26 Harvard Educational Review Vol. 88 No. 1 Spring 2018 Copyright © by the President and Fellows of Harvard College Ethics, Identity, and Political Vision: Toward a Justice-Centered Approach to Equity in Computer Science Education SEPEHR VAKIL University of Texas at Austin In this essay, Sepehr Vakil argues that a more serious engagement with critical tra- ditions in education research is necessary to achieve a justice-centered approach to equity in computer science (CS) education. With CS rapidly emerging as a distinct feature of K–12 public education in the United States, calls to expand CS education are often linked to equity and diversity concerns around expanding access to girls and historically underrepresented students of color. Yet, unlike other critical traditions in education research, equity-oriented CS research has largely failed to interrogate the sociopolitical context of CS education. To move toward a justice-centered approach to equity, Vakil argues, we must simultaneously attend to at least three features of CS education: the content of curriculum, the design of learning environments, and the politics and purposes of CS education reform. While there are many avenues of criti- cal inquiry within and across each of these topics, the focus in this essay is on the role of ethics in the curriculum, the role of identity in CS learning environments, and the significance of a clear political vision for CS education. Keywords: computer science education, critical theory, STEM education, ethics, sociocultural theory No one wants to hear why you are behind. Run faster, jump higher . . . We are here to talk about new possibilities for you, next door . . . Next door to you is the largest, most robust industry in the whole world called Silicon Valley. And some- how, someway, it has passed over you . . . So buckle down and get on up! And make it happen! . . . [Prep] will be a resource for Silicon Valley! . . . If I learn computer science . . . I can see the goal! The goal is Google! The goal is Face- book! The goal is Microsoft! (Vakil, 2016)