Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek) is an annual call to action, originally launched by the Association for Computing Machinery and several other education groups, in hopes of inspiring the next generations of K-12 students to learn computer science. The goals of the week include advocating for equity in computer science education and celebrating the contributions of students, teachers, and partners to the field.
You can find webinars, a kick-off live-stream and educator workshops at the CSEdWeek main page to engage your students in this international celebration.
This year’s focus on Social Justice in CS education draws attention to underrepresented communities and the needs of diverse students in computer science. As CS skills become more and more integral to a wider range of career paths, the gap in educational access has widened.
As of the most recent studies:
• Fewer than half of K–12 schools offer meaningful computer science courses that include programming. (Google & Gallup, 2016)
• Only 21.9% of students taking the 2015 AP® Computer Science A exam were female, the lowest female participation rate of all the AP exams. 3.9% were Black or African American, 9% were Hispanic or Latino, and 0.4% were American Indian. (College Board, 2016)
• 17% of students graduating with a bachelor’s degree in computer science are female, 8% are Black, and 9% are Hispanic. (NCES, 2014)
• 24.7% of those employed in computer and mathematical occupations were female, 8.6% Black or African American, and 6.8% Hispanic or Latino (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015).
Part of the CSEdWeek mission is to improve these statistics in hope of supporting a more representative community of CS professionals to grow throughout their careers. We hope you’ll join us this week as we take this mission to heart and promote #CSForSocialJustice for all.
