High Tech Girls Society

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High Tech Girls Society

• Minneapolis Public Schools
• June 2004

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Rationale for the Club

• The wage gap between men and women has not
  narrowed significantly in the last 20 years, and
  Minnesota has made less progress in narrowing the
  gap than any other state (Star Tribune, page 1D,
  11/29/03).
• Men outnumber women in high-paying, high-tech
  career fields. For example, male pilots outnumber
  female pilots by 16 to 1 (Women in Aviation
  International, www.wai.org/resources/fact.cfm ).
• 75 of people living in poverty are women and
  their children (Commission on the Economic Status
  of Women, www.lcesw.leg.mn ).

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Opportunity and Risk

• Girls who are interested in high tech education
  and careers have the chance to increase their
  math and science skills, prepare for challenging
  post-secondary programs, and earn credentials
  that qualify them for high-paying jobs.
• However, women can feel isolated in male
  dominated fields and are at high risk of changing
  direction.

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What Works
Research shows that girls are more likely to stay
the course in high tech education and careers
when they

• Are encouraged to pursue non-traditional career
  interests,
• Are exposed to adult female role models,
• Have peer support and leadership, and
• Receive information on succeeding in male
  dominated fields.

Donna Milgram, National Institute for Women in
Trades, Technology and Science.
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High Tech Girls Society Is Born
In 2003, Minneapolis Public Schools received a
Non-Traditional Training and Employment grant
from Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
for 10,465. This money leveraged over 10,070 in
in-kind contributions from organizations that are
very enthusiastic about supporting girls in
entering high tech fields.
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Year I Contributing Organizations

• City of Minneapolis Public Works
• Metropolitan Transit Hiawatha Light Rail
• Minneapolis Community and Technical College
• Dunwoody College of Technology
• University of St. Thomas
• Northwest Airlines Engineering/Inspection/
  Maintenance division

• University of Minnesota Civil Engineering,
  Chemical Engineering and Materials Science,
  Computer Science and Engineering, APEXES, IT
  Student Board
• Society of Women Engineers
• Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers
• Minnesota Lego League

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What is Provided?

• Tours of high tech post-secondary programs and
  career sites
• Presentations by successful women and supportive
  men
• Hands-on high-tech activities
• All-girl collaboration on projects, contests,
  presentations, recruitment

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Selected Accomplishments, Year I
Club membership met or exceeded the goal of five
girls per site at Edison, Patrick Henry,
Roosevelt, South and Washburn High Schools. Four
girls participated regularly at North High. These
numbers account for core members only. For
example, a total of 14 girls from Edison
participated in at least one event.
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Selected Accomplishments, cont.
        
As a result of listening to guest speakers,
especially women of color, girls from Patrick
Henry High decided to stay enrolled in Project
Lead The Way, a pre-engineering program. They are
discussing having an all-girl Battlebot IQ team,
and now plan to matriculate to high tech
post-secondary programs.
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Selected Accomplishments, cont.
One of the High Tech Girls at South High
organized an internal recruitment effort to
attract other girls to the Machining program.
Female enrollment in Machine Shop went from 0 to
8 girls from the first semester to the second, or
0 to 33 of students enrolled.
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Selected Accomplishments, cont.
A female student in the Aviation program at
Washburn reported that she was thinking of
dropping out. After attending High Tech Girls
events, she not only stayed in Aviation, but now
feels that she is on equal footing with the male
students.
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Selected Accomplishments, cont.

• Three girls from Roosevelts Cisco Academy and
  Advanced Placement Computer Programming courses
  designed the club Web page with the help of a
  volunteer from a local Rotary Club.
• Six new girls are enrolling in the engineering
  program at North for next year.
• The number of girls from Edison competing in the
  Super Mileage car design contest rose from 2 to 6
  girls. The girls entered two cars of their own
  design.
• News of the High Tech Girls has spread. An
  international aeronautics champion, Pattie
  Wagstaff, has arranged for a 30K plane building
  kit to be donated to Washburn High. It will be
  assembled by girls team.

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Women Working
Above High Tech Girls and their robots. Left A
student learns how to locate a power line.
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Taking the Model to Scale
Minneapolis Public Schools Career and Technical
Education Office is applying for a second year of
funding to institutionalize the High Tech Girls
clubs in six high schools, to double membership
from 30 to 60 girls, to increase in-kind
contributions by at least 70 (to 17,000), and
to disseminate information on the model to other
districts through a website repository of club
resources. For more information, call Wendie
Palazzo, Career and Technical Education
Coordinator for MPS at [phone].