Camp Code for Girls

Discussion Paper

Background

In November 2016, the Texas Workforce Commission’s (TWC) three-member Commission approved Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding for a new initiative called Camp Code for Girls, which was built on the successes of the Governor’s Summer Merit program and the Governor’s Science and Technology Champions’ Academy program. The purpose of the Camp Code for Girls camps is to increase the interest of middle-school girls in coding and computer science. These camps offer hands-on experiences that include challenging and innovative concepts and experiences in learning, problem solving, and analytical skills while simultaneously fostering an interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers, with an emphasis on computer science.

Camp Code for Girls supports the governor’s Tri-Agency Workforce Initiative, Charge 3, to provide a link for students to the high-demand jobs in the state of Texas and the educational requirements to secure those opportunities. Camp Code for Girls will strengthen academic instruction to establish foundational skills in math and science to prepare these students for the future workforce to compete for high-demand jobs that require advanced computer skills.

In May 2017, TWC awarded eight grants to eligible offerors that comprise independent school districts, institutions of higher education, and nonprofit organizations. The funding supported more than 1,000 scholarships for sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade girls to attend 29 coding camps held during summer 2017.

Careers in computer programming and software development continue to grow and to command competitive salaries. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median annual wage for computer programmers in May 2016 was $82,860 (http://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/home.htm). The BLS also lists software development as one of the occupations, with the most job growth anticipated between 2016 and 2026 (https://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_104.htm). Projections show high salaries and robust job growth in the field for Texas: salaries now range from $56,163 to $108,497, with an expected growth of 36.6 percent over the period of 2014–2024 (http://www.lmci.state.tx.us/shared/PDFs/High-Growth-Annual-Report-Final-Review-12-16.pdf).

However, despite the growth in computer programming and software development, it is still the case that fewer women than men are entering those fields. In 2016, the National Girls Collaborative Project reported that women make up half of the total college-educated workforce in the United States, but only 29 percent of the science and engineering workforce (https://ngcproject.org/statistics). In the past 30 years, the number of women completing engineering and technology programs has declined. As a result, women are underrepresented in technology-related jobs, especially in technical positions and at leadership levels (McKinsey & Company, October 2015, http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/wanted-more-women-in-technology).

Texas reflects the national trend. According to TWC’s Labor Market and Career Information research of 2015, only 24.9 percent of employees in computer-related occupations in Texas were women.

Issues

Texas must continue to produce a qualified STEM workforce to meet the growing demand of information technology jobs. To meet the need for this workforce and help Texas to be competitive in the national economy, girls must be encouraged and supported in information technology fields.

To increase the recruitment and retention of women in these fields, Texas’ schools must foster the interest of girls in computer science. If girls become interested when they are very young, they are more likely to follow those interests throughout middle school and high school, thus preparing themselves for postsecondary education and rewarding careers.

Providing activities and lessons that encourage their interest in high technology, such as working in teams to use programming languages to build games, web pages, and robots, enhance girls’ interest in the industry. Creating summer camps that offer computer science projects that incorporate art and storytelling with robotics, video games, websites, and applications also further interest in the field. The coding education should include the most in-demand and popular languages, such as Python, SQL, C, C++, C#, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, PHP, iOS/Swift, R, Go, Java, and JavaScript.

Decision Point

Staff seeks direction on continuing to support the Camp Code for Girls initiative with $600,000 in TANF funding for camps to be held in summer 2018.

DP – Camp Code Commission Notebook 12 05 172