Communications of the ACM
'Typically, If You Think of a Coder, It's a White Male'
"When we're able to identify disparities in education, we can better determine whether federal grant programs are effectively reaching our students," says Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), a former computer programmer.
Credit: AP
The nonprofit Girls Who Code organization is collaborating with U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) on legislation requiring federally funded schools to tell the Department of Education how many students participate in computer science courses, as well as their gender, ethnicity, English-learner status, and grade levels. The overarching goal is to help close the gender gap in CS, by gauging federal programs' effectiveness in boosting diversity in education.
"Typically, if you think of a coder, it's a white male. We're trying to make the tech community look like America," said Anna Hughes with Software.org: the BSA Foundation, a Girls Who Code partner.
The nonprofit also recommends increasing girls' exposure to female role models and other underrepresented minorities in technology, underwriting gender inclusion training for educators, and extending CS courses to all middle schools, so girls can access the program at younger ages.
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