Success in CS: Is culture a factor?

The research presented in this paper investigated the possibility that the factors that have been shown to be correlated with success in Computer Science could be influenced by culture. Two Sudanese students have recently been through our department. While they excelled in academic areas often connected to success in Computer Science, they were unable to gain an understanding of programming at the same rate as fellow class members. Considering their backgrounds, we began to wonder if perhaps there was a cultural aspect to their apparent inability to grasp the programming concepts as efficiently as their U.S. born peers. Drawing on past research from multiple disciplines, we determined that there was some likelihood that this is the case for them and for students of other cultures in general. In this paper we report on the evidence found to support this general conclusion. In addition we show that attention to the variation in Math education, learning styles, personality traits, and comfort levels due to background, can make a significant difference in the ability of students from a variety of cultures to learn Computer Science.