Friday 29th March 2024

Glasgow High School earns College Board AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award

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GLASGOW, Ky. — Glasgow High School earned the College Board AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award for achieving high female representation in AP Computer Science Principles, which is achieved by having 50% or higher female representation in class, according to a College Board press release. “What makes me happy — not just that we’ve been identified for this award, but just knowing that our students have lots of choices and lots of opportunities,” GHS Principal Dr. Amy Allen said. “The culture that we’ve created in our school for our young ladies and our young men, too, to really support whatever it is that they want to do. “I’m extremely proud and happy for our Computer Science students as well as Mr. (Larry) Corell because he has put so much time and energy and all of his passion into this pathway.”

Corell said his Computer Science program hasn’t always had high female representation, but because of “word of mouth and other students just taking the course,” the numbers have increased this year.

“I’m very excited,” he said. “It’s been a goal since Day One, and if you look at it, if you have all male students, you’ve lost half the brains that you could have in your classroom. You need that diversity.”

GHS recent graduate Rain Stovall said she wanted to take this course since the high school started offering it last year because she has always wanted to follow a career in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) field.

“I think it’s important to know the basics of computer science,” she said. “I know that will really help me in future careers even if they’re not computer science based.”

Stovall added that this class has made her want to pursue a career in computer science or engineering.

Dr. Allen said the societal roles and expectations for females have changed over the years.

“I grew up in a time where there were Barbie dolls,” she said. “And that’s kind of what the expectation was for girls, that they play with dolls and kind of left the math and science up to the fellas and all the engineering aspects.”

Stefanie Sanford, College Board global policy chief, stated in a press release that GHS is “empowering young women to see themselves as creators, innovators, and problem-solvers.” “We hope to see even more high schools inspire female students to harness the potential of an AP computer science education,” she said.

This growth in female representation can be attributed to the fact that GHS now offers three classes instead of one, two AP computer science courses and a programming class, “and we are getting ready for another programming course next year,” Corell said, adding that he thinks there is a gender gap within the Computer Science field because “females are told that they are not going to be as good and I think that has been instilled in them for years.”

“But I think Glasgow has a tradition that has shown that not to be true,” he said. “It has been a lot easier for me to recruit than most people because of that, because we don’t look at it that way.

“There’s been a study that females are taught to be perfect and males are taught to be brave, and by being brave you can make mistakes but keep on trying — whereas the female students a lot of the time, if they can’t get something done perfect, they won’t turn it in or show it — so we’re trying to break down that barrier.”

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