StudySoup is offering a $1,000 Women in Technology Scholarship to an outstanding female student who is planning a career in the field of computer science and/or computer programming. The scholarship is open to any woman ages 18 or older who is attending high school and will be attending college in the next year, or who is currently attending college as an undergraduate or graduate student.
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Want more women in tech? Fix misperceptions of computer science
Code.org’s Hadi Partovi recently wrote a blog post titled “The real reason there aren’t more women in tech,” says edSurge. He listed three reasons:
- Computer science is not taught in US schools;
- As an elective, it doesn’t contribute to graduation requirement;
- The nerd stereotype is proven to drive away women.
While I agree with his assertions, I believe that there is another systemic and underlying factor at play. Students harbor a narrow and misguided view of what CS as a discipline and career entails. This is not so much a “stereotype” as sheer lack of awareness…