Women in Tech: She++ Screening and STEM Discussion Panel.
May 16, 2013 US/Pacific
Women in Tech: She++ Screening and STEM Discussion Panel sponsored by General Assembly - LA.
Santa Monica, CA -
Despite past intitiatives, community projects and University outreach, the number of women programmers, game developers and computer science
students has failed to show consistent growth. Although in the early '80's there was a fairly decent amount of women
majoring in computer science (in fact, at MIT in 1984 there was approximately the same percentage of men and women),
gender equity in these fields has steadily dropped.
According to a Department of Education report on this subject, it showed the same 13% and 28% figures for 1970 and 2001,
respectively, with that latter number actually representing a drop from 1985, when women made up 37% of all computer science students!
Fast forward a decade and what can be found? Well, in 2010, only 15% of computer science majors were females and
50% of girls felt that STEM was not a career path for women.
These statistics inspired a few Standford Unviersity students to produce a short film that explores the topic of women
in tech with the intention of helping girls feel less intimidated by coding.
The documentary, titled She++, was presented at an exclusive screening, sponsored by
General Assembly - LA.
Also in attendance at the GA-LA event were representatives from some organizations
that support women in tech: DIY Girls, WITI,
Girls in Tech LA, and USC School of Engineering. Eva Hibnick, Esq., (General Assembly Audience Development, Los Angeles), moderated
a panel of women representing these organizations. The women were Amy King, Jessica Lynn Suttles, Murriel Calaycay, and Luz Rivas.
After the screening of She++, Eva Hibnick, Esq. proceeded to moderate a second panel which consisted of the
following female engineers: Melissa Bennett, Esther Nam and Mirian Avalos.
General Assembly - LA's event, Women In Tech, was both a definite and positive response to the
road to encouraging gender equity in STEM. For more information on the groups involved at this event and
in General Assembly - LA, be sure to visit their site at General Assembly LA.
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