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Leverage the High Opinion of CS - Shine the light on the benefits of CS
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Find Ways to Help Parents and Teachers Talk to Underrepresented Groups About CS
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Encourage Early Exposure to Role Models for Girls, Especially before Age 14
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Establish Individualized Support for Students - Don’t make assumptions consider individual attributes
Encourage and Teach Girls to Code
May 25, 2020
Words are powerful. Inspiring a new generation of female coders begins with what we tell girls about their ability to be good at computer science. Google's research on "Encouraging Students Toward Computer Science" reveals that both girls (27%) and boys (30%) at age 12 have a similar interest in learning computer science. However between the ages of 12 and 14 interest diminishes for girls (27% to 12%) and boys' increases (30% to 47%). This makes early exposure to computer science an important factor in girls exploring this field as a possible career path.
Another key finding is that girls are less likely to receive encouragement about their ability to be good at computer science. It seems that biases and stereotypes held by parents and teachers may play a part in the lack of support girls receive about their ability in computer science. This lack of support is apparent in data for other groups including African Americans. Since computing opportunities are expected to increase over the next decade, intentionality needs to be a part of the direct effort made to include more girls and other underrepresented groups in computer science. Perhaps the first step is encouragement. It is correlated to interest in learning computer science. It is also something everyone can do.
Steps to Encourage Students Toward Computer Science Learning
Source: Google