Applications Open for MIT's Women in Technology Program

It’s no secret that women are dismally underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields.

Despite girls on average taking more science and mathematics classes in high school than their male peers and graduating college with almost half of the undergraduate degrees awarded in science and engineering, women make up only 26 percent of STEM careers, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The disparity continues to grow once science and engineering careers are broken up by field. Women make up only 13 percent of engineers and 27 percent of computer professionals, a number that has actually dropped since the 1980s, the Census Bureau reports.

This is why colleges like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) began offering summer programs in science, engineering and technology specifically targeted toward high school girls.

Girls in Marblehead and the surrounding area who are in their junior year of high school can apply to attend MIT this summer for rigorous courses in computer science and engineering.

The MIT Women’s Technology Program is a four-week program that invites female students between their junior and senior years in high school to explore their curiosity in technology and engineering through one of two course tracks. Accepted students will study either Mechanical Engineering or Computer Science/Electrical Engineering.

Applications for the WTP program are available now and due Jan. 1.

Although only 45 percent of MIT’s undergraduates and 31 percent of the school’s graduate students are women, the college hopes to “spark high school girls’ interest in the future study of engineering and computer science,” even if they do not end up studying at MIT.

Girls who already have experience in computer science cannot be considered for the computer science courses, MIT said, because the program is meant to give the girls a new experience in science and engineering.

Students who wish to apply can visit Women in Technology Program online or learn more at the program’s FAQ page.

image Southern Arkansas University via wikimedia