Fairport battles gender gap with all-girls tech program democratandchronicle.com Democrat and Chronicle:
"The Fairport Central School District has approved an aggressive approach to counteract the gender gap in technology classes.
The district will begin a two-year pilot program starting next fall to create four all-girl technology courses — one each at Fairport High School, Minerva DeLand School (ninth grade), and Martha Brown and Johanna Perrin middle schools. Enrollment will be voluntary in compliance with Title IX."
"Girls sometimes won't take technology classes because they don't want to be the only girl in a class or in a technology club," said Dave Allyn, a special assignment administrator for the Fairport school district. "Job growth is happening in engineering and some of the sciences where old stereotypes persist about those male-dominated fields, and we need to make our young women aware that there is an opportunity for them."
Women make up more than half of the work force but hold 28 percent of technology positions, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the number of young women studying computer science has fallen by more than 40 percent in the past two decades. With computer support specialist, systems administrator and engineering positions expected to grow significantly by 2016, educators and employers worry that young women are failing to gain the necessary skills for those jobs. Both the University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology have less than 30 percent female enrollment in their undergraduate engineering programs.
"The Fairport Central School District has approved an aggressive approach to counteract the gender gap in technology classes.
The district will begin a two-year pilot program starting next fall to create four all-girl technology courses — one each at Fairport High School, Minerva DeLand School (ninth grade), and Martha Brown and Johanna Perrin middle schools. Enrollment will be voluntary in compliance with Title IX."
"Girls sometimes won't take technology classes because they don't want to be the only girl in a class or in a technology club," said Dave Allyn, a special assignment administrator for the Fairport school district. "Job growth is happening in engineering and some of the sciences where old stereotypes persist about those male-dominated fields, and we need to make our young women aware that there is an opportunity for them."
Women make up more than half of the work force but hold 28 percent of technology positions, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the number of young women studying computer science has fallen by more than 40 percent in the past two decades. With computer support specialist, systems administrator and engineering positions expected to grow significantly by 2016, educators and employers worry that young women are failing to gain the necessary skills for those jobs. Both the University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology have less than 30 percent female enrollment in their undergraduate engineering programs.
