The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that between 2010–2020 there will be more than 1.4 million computing-related job openings available in the United States. At current graduation rates, we can only fill about 30% of those jobs with U.S. computing graduates.
(Ashcraft & Blithe, 2010; Simard, et al., 2008; Voyles et al., 2007)
So, how do we get more women in IT? There are so many job openings, yet there are fewer and fewer women CS graduates.
In this session we will cover:
* Reasons why girls lag behind in Computer Science.
* Four specific things you can do to encourage girls in programming.
* Our story of teaching Jane, age 7, programming and electronics projects, and making it fun.
* Practical ideas on teaching and mentoring girls in your life how to love programming.
Our session is ideally suited for parents, caregivers, or anyone who has an interest in mentoring girls and young women to consider an engineering career in IT.