Fifty-seven percent of bachelor’s degrees are earned by women, but just 12 percent of them are in computer science. Convincing girls—especially right before they apply for college—that they need this skill set in the 21st century is the most important goal of the Summer Immersion Program.
A FREE 7 week course to jump start young women into tech careers
Women use technology as much as men so why are there so few of them choosing computer science? The article explores it in depth, but I think that surely it has to do with the preconceived notions of what is appropriate for women and how hard it can be to penetrate the technical sphere. I know from personal experience that males who work in technology can be condescending, disrespectful and just plain old ignorant, no matter how technically proficient they are, and they defend their “territory” with great zeal, which could leave anyone with a distaste for the entire profession.
But this program run by Girls Who Code, is trying to help and I’m all for it. Anything that puts people in a position to win has my support and I see no reason for any young lady not to at least give it a sniff, because i believe that you don’t know what you do and do not like if you’re not exposed to it and don’t give it a chance.
I only wish that I had have seen this sooner, then I would have been able to encourage more young ladies to get involved in this. I continue to try to interest every child and parent in coding. It will be the difference between the have’s and the have nots in the future as we move into a world where there is an increasing divide between the computer users and the the people who create the things that computer users use.
You bet this is an important topic. What is equally important is that not only “girls” need to learn code, but adults as well, so they are not OS bound. What makes me crazy is for our non-profit to accept $5 from an elderly widow and then hand it over to one of the world’s richest men, because a staffer refuses to use Linux and Open Office because it is slightly different from MS Office.
It’s a wonder to me why the NAACP hasn’t picked up on this issue of Intellectual Freedom. Chains can bind a mind just as thoroughly as they do a body.
as a linux man myself you bring up a very good point. I do believe the reason why they don’t use linux is the reason why a lot of people don’t. They aren’t exposed to it, and like most people they are used to windows. Though that is changing, it’s still not enough to persuade a lot of organizations to jump on board, but the example that you provided should be enough to get mosts attention to see that they should at least give linux a chance.
Coding is going to be much like being bi or multilingual.
Thank you for sharing the Girls Who Code program!! Interesting tidbit: While studies have shown that in elementary school girls typically outperform boys in science and mathematics, it is once our young ladies reach middle school that the numbers begin to wane off. The decline can be attributed to a number of things I am sure but a few areas that I believe impact the numbers are anxiety and a larger focus on peer groups and social status, an inclination for teachers to call on boys more in those particular subject matters, a lack of science/tech/math savvy female educators to foster an environment that allows for female growth in that area and even more so a lack of diversity (gender, culture and race) in the faculty of schools.
In my opinion, the question (one of many) now becomes do we need to update the traditional classroom learning style inventories that group our children into categories based on how they learn and process information which allows for better planning, intervention and differentiation in the classroom to allow for gender specific needs (developmental/hormonal (to include emotional and social) and neurological growth differs greatly in boys and girls) as well?
While I understand that there is no formula for creating a balanced classroom (and I recognize the role of the informed, active parent) the need for diverse, progressive, purposed educators is evident and the first start if we want to begin to narrow and ultimately close the gap.
I venture that one of the first things that has to happen is returning the classroom back to a place where educators can actually focus on teaching instead of preparing kids for standardized tests.
Here! Here! You hit that one out of the park. We need education to come first.