Increasing awareness of computer science in high school girls

Abstract

The Girls on the Go: The Mobile Computing College Experience is a residential summer camp whose aim is to encourage female high school students to attend college, to consider computer science as viable major, and to pursue computing related degrees. The camp content is designed primarily around a user-centered design process, with the students gaining experience in the development of a zoo-themed mobile app. In addition to technical experience, students participate in sessions that educate them on campus life, the admissions process, and more importantly, what a computing-related career may hold for them. The camp was offered in two consecutive summers, with approximately 20 participants in each iteration. In this paper, we compare differences between the two iterations with the intent of identifying both lessons learned and avenues for improving the experience. We investigate whether the camp had an effect on attitudes towards computer science as a major, and on the careers available to computer science graduates. To this end, our analysis revealed a statistically significant effect upon raising awareness of the role of computer scientists and the relevancy of computing for solving real world problems.