SHRINKING KNOW-HOW GAP
4 schools lauded for gender equity efforts in computer science ed
COLLEGE BOARD AP COMPUTER SCIENCE DIVERSITY AWARD
“We never heard of this award, and when we got the email that we won it, I had to look into it to see what is was.”
-- Chris Sandor, teacher at Stagg High School
It’s one thing to be surprised by winning an award.
It’s another thing to be surprised by an award you didn’t know existed.
Four area high schools — Richards, Stagg, Rich South and Mother McAuley — found out in January they won the College Board AP Computer Science Diversity Award for 2020.
The award recognizes schools where at least half of the female students have taken the exam for Advanced Placement computer science courses.
There were 1,119 schools recognized nationwide, and because it’s just the third year these awards were given out, they were met locally by surprise.
“We never heard of this award, and when we got the email that we won it, I had to look into it to see what is was,” said Chris Sandor, a teacher at Stagg High School in Palos Heights.
“I had to look it up to make sure it was legit,” said Jackie Stone, Rich Township Academy lead for Tech and Engineering. Rich South won the award before it and two other schools morphed into Rich Township starting in 2020-21.
“We didn’t even know there was an award until they gave it to us,” said Jeannine Prucha, curriculum director for Mathematics at Richards in Oak Lawn. “It was a nice little surprise.”
For years, computer science has been a male dominated field, and teachers and administrators are trying to even things up. This award was not only met with surprise, but joy as well.
“It’s exciting because it shows we are heading in the right direction,” Stone, of Rich Township, said. “It’s nice to see how you compare with other schools. It stands out.”
Area educators can’t pinpoint the reason why, but the fields of computer science and engineering are heavily made
up of males.
Stone remembers taking college courses in the field at Millikin University and being one of only two females in the class. Erica Klix, who taught an AP computer science class at Richards last year, remembers taking classes at Illinois State University where she was the only female in the class.
Sandor recalls the situation at Stagg 14 years ago, where there were no females sitting in the desks during computer science classes.
The College Board AP group said in a news release the number of female AP CSA exam takers has grown steadily, up nearly 25% since 2017. Overall AP computer science course participation has increased 79% since 2017, broadening Science, Technology Engineering Mathematics career opportunities for more students.
The College Board group analyzed the 2017 Bureau of Labor Statistics and said women represented 24% of the 5 million people in computing occupations. With more high schools making it a point to recruit females in these classes, that gap could shrink.
“The number of women is increasing, but having a slow-ish start in the field, there is still a deep discrepancy, especially with computer science engineers compared to computer programmers,” said Kim Turnbull, director of curriculum and instruction at Mother McAuley in Chicago.
Sandor said closing the gap is important.
“When you get more diverse input, it makes the work more productive,” he said. “You get different viewpoints. I took a group of students to Google in Chicago last year. Listening to them talk about diverse hiring process was amazing for these girls to hear. They were very excited to say the least.”
Even if females do not go into the computer field, taking these classes is vital, according to Klix.
“No matter what field they are interested in going into, they need computer science,” she said.
Winning an award like this means attitudes changed in recent years and more female students were drawn to these classes.
At Stagg, a group called Girls Who Code formed a club a few years ago and Sandor noticed a correlation between that group and an increased female presence in his classroom.
Stagg senior Nasma Shabnah is the club president and she admits being surprised that not long ago so few girls were involved in computer science.
“I got involved in Girls Who Code my junior year because I saw an advisory on it and thought ‘what the heck, I’ll try it,’’’ she said. “I love it. I love the problemsolving and the people who were involved in it. I’ve gotten a few of my friends to join. We get a lot of people through word-of-mouth.”
Turnbull said there are more than 50 students at McAuley taking computer science courses and the Chicago school has drummed up interest during a STEM Week initiative. A partnership with Amazon also helps.
“STEM week allows the students to see all different areas and opening their eyes to those areas,” she said. “Our partnership with Amazon is a spark because it allows them the opportunity to have internships to Amazon as well as scholarships to college. There are a lot of opportunities they might not have realized they had before.”
At Richards, Prucha credits Klix for her role in the award because of Klix’s enthusiasm and her participation as a role model.
“I hope it helps that I’m a woman teaching the class and that it will make them a little more comfortable,” Klix said.
Stone said there is a world of opportunity for females in the field.
“I want us to provide as many opportunities as we can,” Stone said. “I remember when I was in high school, I thought, an engineer was a guy who drove the train. Later on in life, I said that I wished someone would have told me what that was about when I was in high school. So, I want as many females to get STEM opportunities so they will actually know what an engineer does when they get out of high school.”