No Woman Left Behind: How Lack Of Computer Science Education Can Alter The Path Of Today’s Female Youth

edCircuit Opinion

In the article Get ‘em While They’re Young: The Hearts and Minds of Coding and Data Science, The Huffington Post shared shocking statistics regarding computer education in U.S. schools, only 10% of which teach children to code. The U.S. is trailing behind countries such as Britain, Estonia, France and Vietnam, all of which make coding a mandatory part of their curricula.  This dearth of opportunities could help explain why fewer than 1% of high school girls foresee themselves entering careers in computer science. There isn’t any improvement as these girls move forward in their lives.

Forbes reports that only 27% of computer science jobs are held by women, and this percentage hasn’t improved in over 16 years. What do you think? If girls are introduced to STEM at an early age, will this increase their likelihood of pursuing STEM careers? How will this affect women when in today’s world, tech start-ups are more common than not? Share with us below.

At a Glance:

• Less than 1% of high school girls think that computer science is a part of their future
• Only 27% of those who hold computer science jobs are women
• Women have seen no employment growth in STEM jobs since 2000.

Around the Web:

Get ‘em While They’re Young: The Hearts and Minds of Coding and Data Science

Phil Simon | The Huffington Post

“We live in a culture where we’re dissuaded to do things that are technical,” says Diana Navarro, an 18-year-old Rutgers University computer science major. “Younger girls see men, not women, doing all the techie stuff, programming, and computer science.” So writes Martha Mendoza in The Washington Times.

Anecdotes are all too common these days, but what does the data say? Are these one-off stories or is the gender divide in STEM jobs real?

To read more visit The Huffington Post

STEM Fields And The Gender Gap: Where Are The Women?

Heather R. Huhman | Forbes

Technology continues to dominate much of our daily lives, and Silicon Valley companies are thought to hold some of the greatest minds and innovators of our time. But where is the female equivalent of Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg?

The STEM fields—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—have always had a woman problem. Men tend to dominate in the tech industry, and for women, the numbers aren’t growing. A 2011 report by the U.S. Department of Commerce found only one in seven engineers is female. Additionally, women have seen no employment growth in STEM jobs since 2000.

To read more visit Forbes

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