AAUW Receives $100,000 Grant from Symantec to Develop Cybersecurity Program for Girls

Strategic Insights -

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) has been awarded a $100,000 grant from Symantec Corporation to develop a cybersecurity core class for middle school girls interested in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). This grant will expand the curriculum for the AAUW National Tech Trek Program, a highly successful, weeklong STEM summer camp program. The program will serve more than 1,600 girls at 21 sites around the nation in 2015. The cybersecurity course will be piloted at camps at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, Stanford University, and the University of California, Irvine.

Key Takeaways:

  • The grant will expand the AAUW National Tech Trek Program, a highly successful STEM summer camp program that will serve over 1,600 girls at 21 sites across the nation in 2015.
  • The cybersecurity course will be piloted at camps at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, Stanford University, and the University of California, Irvine.
  • The program aims to build a pipeline of qualified girls to enter the in-demand field of cybersecurity, with a focus on increasing the number of women in the computing workforce.
  • The AAUW will release a new research report, Solving the Equation: The Variables for Women's Success in Engineering and Computing, which examines the factors behind women's persistent underrepresentation in engineering and computing fields.
  • The report makes evidence-based recommendations for change to empower girls to pursue STEM education and career options.

Statistics:

  • The AAUW National Tech Trek Program will serve over 1,600 girls at 21 sites across the nation in 2015.
  • Women make up just 26 percent of the computing workforce.
  • The grant from Symantec is $100,000.

Sources:

  • Symantec Corporation press release
  • American Association of University Women (AAUW) press release
  • Solving the Equation: The Variables for Women's Success in Engineering and Computing report (forthcoming)