Computer Science (CS) students, particularly those who are first-generation college students or lack industry exposure, often struggle to see the connections between the courses they take and the wide range of career opportunities available to them. Many have narrow views of career options and limit their vision to a future as a software developer. They may not understand how individual courses, or a combination of them, can prepare them for diverse roles in the computing workforce.

In this study, we present the Pathways project, an interactive exploration tool designed to help CS students visualize how required and elective CS courses connect to each other and to a variety of computing careers. The platform allows students to start from a course of interest to see prerequisite chains and downstream options, or to select a particular career and receive a weighted list of courses aligned with that selection. Our goal is to improve student understanding of curricular structure and empower them to make informed choices by highlighting career-relevant learning trajectories.

We deployed the tool in an undergraduate CS program and collected pre- and post-survey data to assess its impact. Findings show that after students had an opportunity to interact with the Pathways site, 77% of the students (n=25) gained a stronger understanding of how courses interrelate with career options and 36% reported a likely change in career direction. This paper describes the design and implementation of Pathways, the survey-based evaluation, and the lessons learned to guide others interested in utilizing the platform.