As high school students begin to consider their desired career path once their education is complete, computer science is one of the most rapidly growing career choices.
And an award received by Russellville High School indicates the school is doing all it can to expose students to this vital field.
RHS was honored last week with the AP (Advanced Placement) Computer Science Female Diversity Award for the outstanding job RHS' AP Computer Science Principles (CSP) instructors and students have done in expanding girls' access to this important program.
According to College Board research, female students who take AP Computer Science Principles in high school are 500% more likely to major in computer science or a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) as compared to female students of similar background and academic preparation who don't take CSP.
Female students remain underrepresented in high school computer science classes across the country, though, accounting for just over one-third of AP Computer Science Principles participants.
Almost 58% of the nation's high schools teach foundational computer science, and only 1,127 of those received this year's AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award. With more than 23,500 public high schools in the United States, less than five percent qualify for the award.
Russellville High School met the requirement of having 50% or more female students in its AP Computer Science Principles classes.
“Computer science is the source code of our economy and much of the career landscape,” said Trevor Parker, Head of the AP Program nationally. “In the six years since we began the AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award, it's been heartening to see schools like Russellville HighSchool welcome so many more young women into this vital field.”
Brea Colagross is in her sixth year as AP Computer Science Principles teacher at Russellville. Colagross, whose teaching experience prior to CSP was in math and business education, said once she was asked to teach computer science eight years ago, she put in hundreds of hours of training and workshops to become certified, which totally changed her outlook on job opportunities for her students.
“It exposes students to such a different way of thinking about the world,” Colagross said. “Now, rather than just being users of technology, it changes their thoughts to become those who have the ideas of change to innovate our world.
“Whether it's design, programming or cyber-security, the opportunities are so vast. I have two former students working for NASA now. Whether or not my students decide to major in computer science and it becomes their job and career, it's a whole other way to take their math and science skills and use them to think in a completely different way,” she added.
Providing female students with access to computer science courses is a vital step toward the goal of gender parity in STEM careers. These are generally high-paying jobs that help drive American innovation and creativity.
RHS Principal Jeremy Madden said the award speaks well about the school's AP Computer Science Program.
“In today's workforce, men hold over 75% of the in-demand computing jobs. RHS is proud to be among the small number of schools across the country that received the recognition for diversifying its computer science education. Mrs. Brea Colagross is an expert teacher and a leader in her profession,” Madden said.
Students who complete AP Computer Sciences Principles and pass an exam earn college credit for taking the course in high school.
Colagross also teaches a freshmen Foundational Computer Science Principles course as well as IT Fundamentals and Python Programming. While the AP Computer Sciences Principles class has a large number of girls, Colagross said her other classes continue to see male student numbers exceed female student participation.
“It's interesting to see the number of boys outweigh the number of girls who sign up for these classes,” Colagross said. “I encouraged my daughter to take the class, then she encouraged some of her friends to take it and that's a good way for more girls participate. When they see the class as fun, opportunities come from that and then they use their experience to recruit others.”
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