SHIELDING STRUCTURE FOR A CARD EDGE CONNECTOR

A card edge connector includes a connector housing having a cavity and a card slot at a front configured to receive a module circuit board of the pluggable module. The card edge connector includes a contact assembly received in the cavity having a contact positioner holding contacts in a contact array. The contacts are arranged in pairs. Each contact includes a mating end, a terminating end, and an intermediate portion held by the contact positioner. The mating ends extend into the card slot for mating to corresponding signal pads on the module circuit board. The card edge connector includes a shield structure having ground shields located between the pairs of the contacts. The ground shields include ground beams that extend into the card slot for mating to corresponding ground pads on the module circuit board.