The number of jobs in computer science is expected to grow by 19 percent by 2026, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, but women graduate with only 18 percent of computer science bachelor’s degrees.
This summer, the University of Maryland continues efforts to combat the disparity with summer camps.
“This kind of problem can’t only be solved at the college level,” said Dr. Ming Lin, the Elizabeth Stevinson Iribe Chair of Computer Science with a joint appointment in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies. “We have the responsibility to ensure that there is this pipeline of students that are being educated and trained from K-12, and this is an integral part of our efforts in terms of addressing the diversity and inclusion problem.”
The program began with CompSciConnect, a two-week computer science camp geared toward middle-school girls that started in 2012. CompSciConnect was designed for students to attend for three summers, building their skills each year.
Campers spend their days learning about programming, robotics, cybersecurity and more. After the summer, kids can connect with each other, review what they learned at monthly meetings and have the opportunity to present their work at the annual CompSciConnect Showcase at the end of the fall semester and at Maryland Day at the end of the spring semester.
Now the Maryland Center for Women in Computing runs 13 camp sessions, serving 300 students from elementary school to high school. The center also oversees an after-school program at seven schools and monthly events for students, including workshops with Girl Scouts of America to help scouts earn their robotics badges.
“They get [a project] to work, and they just dance,” says Dr. Jandelyn Plane, the director of the Maryland Center for Women in Computing and the new director for the Iribe Initiative for Inclusion and Diversity in Computing. “If we could bottle the energy in the room, we could sell it and be millionaires.”
