TechGirls: Encouraging Girls to Embrace STEM Careers Across the Globe
“We are twenty-seven girls that hold the future of the next generation.”
“We are a family that comes from nine countries, united by our goal and hope for change.”
“We are going to change the world.”
These are just three of 33 statements that 27 teenage girls shared on The TechGirls Blog: 2013. Recently, the group of 15- to 17-year-old girls from South Africa and the Middle East visited the Yahoo! Washington, D.C., office as part of their three-week exchange in the United States to pick the brains of some of the brightest minds in the tech industry.
What is TechGirls?
First unveiled in 2011 by Hillary Clinton, TechGirls is a Legacy International Program that sponsors three-week exchange programs for bright 15- to 17-year-olds to attend hands-on workshops and a 50-hour tech camp at Towson University. The teenage girls are nominated for the program with the hope that they will be inspired to pursue careers in STEM industries, often not the norm for girls from the Middle East or South Africa. This year’s group of girls hails from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia and Yemen. This year, the program ran from June 25 to July 18 and the activities included tech camp, tours of Washington, D.C., and New York City, workshops with Girls Who Code and job shadowing opportunities. After the girls return home, TechGirls provides continuing workshops and activities in their home countries.
Trying to Close the STEM Gender Gap
A U.S. Department of Commerce report entitled “Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation” states that while women hold nearly half of the jobs in the U.S. economy, females hold less than a quarter of the STEM occupations. This has been the case for a decade despite the fact that more females than ever are attending college and STEM careers have less salary disparity between women and men. Most of the women that go on to receive STEM degrees still do not go into STEM careers, often opting for positions in the health care and education sectors. Ultimately, this does not mean that females are not interested in STEM careers. As with TechGirls, more American girls need to be inspired at school to pursue STEM degrees and careers and to get involved in organizations like Girls Who Code.
Helping Girls Around the World
To meet an increasing demand for STEM professionals and to balance the sexes entering those fields, the U.S. Department of State has pledged to help females all over the world advance their education. Senator John Kerry stated, “No country can get ahead if it leaves half of its people behind. This is why the United States believes gender equality is critical to our shared goals of prosperity, stability and peace, and why investing in women and girls worldwide is critical to U.S. foreign policy.”
In addition to legislation, the State Department works with organizations like the African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program, Invest for the Future (Southern, Eastern Europe and Central Asia), the Women’s Entrepreneurship in the Americas, the Central Asia and Afghanistan Women’s Economic Symposium, the South Asia Women’s Entrepreneurship Symposium, Pathways to Prosperity and Propelling Women Entrepreneurs in Pakistan. The State Department also expressed a commitment to preventing violence against women, involving more women in policymaking and development and offering grant money “to improve the lives of women and girls around the world.” While TechGirls is changing the lives of 27 girls at a time, the State Department is trying to target many many more. Hopefully, these efforts will lead to a point in time when the number of girls in STEM professions accurately mirrors the number of women in the world.
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