Female students at a Queens high school are getting free lessons in computer coding under a new program to boost girls’ participation science, technology, engineering and math — better known as STEM.
City education officials and Verizon teamed up to create the Women in STEM (WinSTEM) after-school program at Energy Tech High School in Long Island City, where 50 girls are enrolled in classes that may become a model for similar efforts at other schools.
Energy Tech principal Hope Barter said that increasing female students’ access to the white-hot field of STEM is key goal for educators at her technology-themed school.
“We want to make sure we’re creating more educational pipelines,” said Barter, who in 2013 founded Energy Tech, where students can earn two years of college credit in addition to a high school diploma.
“We hope to see our students making a difference.”
In the new WinSTEM program, which started Wednesday, girls who volunteer for classes are learning about coding through robotics, with plenty of hands-on coursework.
The program is funded through a $20,000 grant from Verizon. The company also donated another $80,000 to pay for other STEM programs at other city high schools.
But the Energy Tech Program is the only one to focus on girls, who historically have been under-represented in the city’s STEM education programs.
The lack of girls enrolled in some STEM programs at city schools mirrors a trend in tech jobs nationwide, where women are less likely to work in those lucrative fields.
Nationwide, fewer than 15% of female high school seniors reported an interest in working in technology in a 2013 survey by education advocacy group STEM Connector.
But female Energy Tech students enrolled in the WinSTEM program are determined to make their mark in tech, despite the challenges.
“It’s tough,” said Energy Tech sophomore Linda Alvarado, 15, who hopes to pursue a career in civil engineering. “There are not enough women in STEM. It’s rare, but I’m hoping to change it.”