From Left to Right: Supasinee Siripun, Juanita Garcia, Delaney Daniels, Mrs. Cara Gregory, Kelsey Smith, & Carleigh Grimm
The Linsly School has recently earned the College Board AP® Computer Science Female Diversity Award for achieving high female representation in AP Computer Science Principles. Schools honored with this award have proven that they have expanded girls’ access in AP computer science courses.
More than 1,000 institutions achieved either 50% or higher female representation in one of the two AP Computer Science courses or a percentage of the female computer science exam takers meeting or exceeding that of the school’s female population during the 2020-21 school year. In 2021, The Linsly School was one of 760 recognized in the category of AP Computer Science Principles (CSP).
“We’re thrilled to congratulate our female AP computer science students and their teacher, Mrs. Cara Gregory, on this step toward gender parity in computer science education,” said Mr. Justin Zimmerman, Linsly’s Head of School. “We’re honored that Linsly earned this distinction and look forward to seeing these young women and others pursue and achieve success in computer science education and careers.”
“By encouraging young women to study advanced computer science coursework, The Linsly School is closing the gap in computer science education and empowering young women to access the opportunities available in STEM career fields,” said Stefanie Sanford, College Board chief of Global Policy and External Relations. “Computer science is the foundation of many 21st-century career options, and young women deserve equal opportunities to pursue computer science education and drive technological innovation.”
Linsly AP Computer Science teacher and Linsly IT Director, Mrs. Cara Gregory, explained what this honor means to her.
“It’s a very full circle moment for me to have my students earn this award,” said Gregory. “There were quite a few classes in my undergrad work where I was the only female. I remember vividly an entire hardware semester where I was the only female and felt very singled out by professors and classmates. To have engaged female students to be not only interested but excelling in Computer Science in high school, will only help bridge the gender gap. I am so proud of them for stepping out of their comfort zone and putting forth so much effort into the course.”
In addition to teaching the AP Computer Science class, Gregory also explained that she took a group of students to MIT for a competition that sparked a career interest for one of her female students.
“In 2019 I took a group of students to MIT for the Blueprint Hackathon competition. Out of my group, I took a female student who had never considered Computer Science as a degree before. Once we were there she realized how capable she was to turn her interest into a career.”
Overall, female students remain underrepresented in high school computer science classes, accounting for just 34% of AP Computer Science Principles participants and 25% of AP Computer Science A participants. Currently, 51% of the nation’s high schools teach foundational computer science. The 1,020 schools that received this year’s AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award serve as inspirations and models for all U.S. high schools.
Supasinee Siripun, one of the female students who was presented with this award, gave some valuable insight on the involvement of young girls in S.T.E.M. based courses. She states:
Many tend to think STEM is a boys’ world, which it still is, but that’s why it’s so important to educate young girls that they can do it too. I believe the more girls we start fostering, the more we can start closing the gender gap in STEM.
Siripun also revealed that she is interested in pursuing a career related to these topics, as it is a part of so many aspects of our daily lives. Also, when asked her thoughts about what this award means to her and her fellow female classmates, she replied:
Oftentimes, girls in STEM. are overlooked, and aren’t given the appreciation we deserve. We spend a lot of time with the course and I’m sure I can say that we are incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished.
Finally, Siripun credited the award to AP Computer Science Teacher, Mrs. Gregory, who in her words, was “essential to us winning the award.”
