Girls’ Scholarship Program Seeks to Fight the Gender Gap in STEM Education
Campbell, CA (PRWEB) March 11, 2015 -- For the second summer in a row, iD Tech, the leader in summer STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education for kids and teens, is continuing its nationwide Girls’ Scholarship Program. This year, iD Tech is partnering with Code.org, a non-profit dedicated to expanding participation in computer science, to send 100 girls to iD Tech Camps for free. At iD Tech Camps, students ages 7-17 create mobile apps, design video games, mod with Minecraft, build robots, code with C++ and Java, produce movies, and more. Programs are held in 30 states nationwide. The scholarship application process is open from now through April 1st (iDTech.com/girls).
Although women make up half of the global population, only 14% of computer science undergraduates are female. iD Tech is committed to changing that equation with its initiative to engage more girls in STEM education, both at the company’s camps and, more broadly, at the collegiate and professional levels.
"We're thrilled to partner with iD Tech to help girls jump into a world of creativity that comes with building technology," said Hadi Partovi, Co-Founder and CEO of Code.org. "Trying computer science early on—before stereotypes set in—is an important first step in giving every student, boy and girl, access to the best careers available in the 21st century."
Women have been at the heart of iD Tech since 1999, when Alexa Ingram-Cauchi and her mother, Kathryn Ingram, started the Silicon Valley-based company. “We’ve always been passionate about engaging girls in tech,” says Ingram-Cauchi, President and Co-Founder of iD Tech. “It has been wonderful to see our efforts come to fruition and become so impactful.”
Over the past decade, the number of female students at camp has grown each year. Last year over 6,000 girls attended an iD Tech program, and its brand new all-girls program, Alexa Café, sold out in a matter of weeks.
Female numbers are projected to grow as iD Tech continues to create compelling, meaningful courses and programs that spark the interests of girls. So far these changes have ranged from simple fixes, such as modifying camp courses to be more inviting, to more in-depth changes, such as utilizing Google’s extensive research to train iD Tech employees to be more aware of and sensitive to different learning styles.
According to Ingram-Cauchi, providing scholarships to iD Tech Camps makes it easier for girls to engage in STEM learning. iD Tech summer programs are held in 30 states at over 100 prestigious campuses nationwide, including Stanford, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Harvard, Caltech, and many others.
iD Tech offers various summer camps for students ages 6-18. Campers design video games, mod with Minecraft, code apps, engineer robots, build websites, produce films, and more. Ultimately, students discover how their interests can lead to college and a meaningful career. At camp, hands-on learning takes place in small clusters of just 8 students per instructor, guaranteed.
It’s time to eliminate the gender gap in STEM education. iD Tech is leading the way.
About iD Tech
iD Tech is the leader in summer STEM education programs for students ages 6-18. Over 200,000 students have attended iD Tech programs since 1999. These camps are held at over 100 prestigious campuses nationwide, including Stanford, Rice, MIT, Caltech, University of Denver, Bryn Mawr, and many others. In addition to iD Tech Camps for ages 7-17, the company also offers Alexa Café, an all-girls program for ages 10-15, half-day camps for aspiring innovators ages 6-9, and 2-week, pre-college academies for teens ages 13-18. To learn more visit iDTech.com.
About Code.org
Launched in 2013, Code.org is a non-profit dedicated to expanding participation in computer science and increasing participation by women and underrepresented students of color. Code.org organizes the annual-Hour of Code campaign, which has introduced tens of millions of students, in 180 countries, to computer science. Over 4 million students are enrolled in Code.org's learning platform, Code Studio, and the organization has partnered with 60 public school districts nationwide to expand computer science programs.
Karen Thurm Safran, iD Tech, http://www.iDTech.com, 408-666-8353, [email protected]
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