WE PASSED A LAW IN COLORADO TO BRING MORE GIRLS INTO TECH!
Big news from Girls Who Code! We’ve been working with legislators in Colorado to pass a bill that will help close the gender gap in tech. Today, Governor Jared Polis signed that bill, creating a one-of-a-kind grant program to bring minority students into computer science for public schools that report data on the diversity of their computer science classrooms.
Colorado has more than 15,000 open tech jobs, with salaries averaging almost $100,000 per year — nearly twice the average salary in the state. But women make up less than a third of the tech workforce in Colorado, and only 24% of students taking AP computer science. According to Girls Who Code research, nearly 70% of growth in the computing pipeline can come from changing the path of the youngest girls.
“Like many states, Colorado had not previously tracked K-12 CS enrollment making it impossible to measure, and therefore to manage, the gender gap in tech. This grant program changes that — it’s an innovative and impactful way to close the gap while simultaneously helping legislators track the impact of policies targeting it.” — Dr. Tarika Barrett, COO of Girls Who Code
The bill in Colorado is the second in a series of landmark bills that Girls Who Code is working to pass in states across the country. Earlier this year, we passed a similar bill in Washington State. Both bills were designed with guidance from the Girls Who Code Policy Agenda.
“It’s easy to feel like you don’t belong when the people you learn about don’t look like you and the people around you don’t look like you. That’s what happens to girls in CS classrooms. But with legislation like this, designed to give girls spaces like Girls Who Code that we thrive in, that can change.” — Hailey Forar, Colorado Girls Who Code Clubs alumni
HB 1277 creates a computer science education grant program to support efforts by public schools and districts to bring underrepresented groups into K-12 computer science. Funding will be prioritized to those applicants that demonstrate a commitment to bringing these populations into tech, and exposing them to diverse role models. School districts that receive the grants will be required to report data on available computer science courses and the proportion of students enrolling by gender, race, and qualification for free and reduced lunch.
HB 1277 was introduced by Representatives Daneya Esgar and Lisa Cutter, and Senators Nancy Todd and Faith Winters. Click here to read the full text of HB 1277 “Concerning the Creation of the Computer Science Grant Program”.
Click here for full text of the Girls Who Code Policy Agenda.
Girls Who Code is an international non-profit organization working to close the gender gap in technology and change the image of what a programmer looks like and does. Girls Who Code released their Policy Agenda
