Communications of the ACM
Schools Look to Shrink the Gender Gap in STEM Classes
High school students organized GirlCon, a one-day conference that brought together middle and high school girls with professionals in fields ranging from politics to engineering.
As a new school year starts, educators and students in the northern suburbs of Chicago are confronting what they say is a gender gap in high school STEM classes.
Educators who say they see significantly more male students enrolled in science, technology, engineering, and math classes are doing a number of things to close the gender gap, such as creating extracurricular activities like the Girls' Coding Club at Deerfield High School, says Christine Gonzales, director of communications and instructional technology in Township High School District 113. A Society of Women's Engineers Club was started at Glenbrook South District 225, says teacher Dawn Hall.
The gap has dropped in the last few years, but teachers say it still exists.
Teacher Mary Kosirog at Glenbrook High Schools says enrollment in Engineering Design at Glenbrook North grew from five percent females in 2014 to 31 percent this school year.
At Glenbrook South, Hall said there were five girls and 43 boys in a similar class in the 2016-17 term. This year, there are 16 females and 31 males registered.
In some cases, students like Deerfield junior Kyla Guru and Libertyville High School senior Molly Graton are taking the issue on themselves. They organized GirlCon, a one-day conference June 16 at Northwestern University in Evanston.
Guru and Graton said GirlCon was designed to bring middle and high school girls together with professionals in fields ranging from politics to engineering so they could learn how technology touches many careers.
Guru said more than 200 girls participated along with 50 professionals.
From Chicago Tribune
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