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   Nonprofit App Camp for Girls Launches Fundraiser

   Glenn Fleishman

   Dismayed by seeing few female engineers at Apple developers
   conferences, Jean MacDonald, marketing chief at Smile and a friend of
   many of us at TidBITS, has decided to help bring more young women into
   the fold.

   Jean, along with iOS developer Natalie Osten and TUAW editor Kelly
   Guimont, have launched a modest fundraiser to jumpstart their new
   nonprofit, [1]App Camp for Girls. They've 'alpha tested' a one-day
   version, have a free 'beta test' camp later this month for 12 girls,
   and plan a regular session for 20 middle-school-age girls in August
   2013. It's part traditional summer camp, with the usual craft and
   physical activities, and part coding workshop.

   The group turned to a [2]crowdfunding campaign at Indiegogo, which,
   unlike Kickstarter, will hand over whatever money is collected, even if
   the campaign doesn't reach its $50,000 target. (It's on track to pass
   that goal, with over $28,000 raised so far!) Although I'm the father of
   two boys, I've contributed as I want everyone to be able to reach their
   potential with no doors closed to them for arbitrary reasons ' nor for
   lack of role models.

   College-aged women have increasingly turned away from computer-science
   and engineering careers over the last 30 years. While you may think
   it's a recent problem, [3]some statistics show the percentage of
   undergraduate computer science degrees awarded to women was as high as
   37 percent in 1984, but [4]subsequently dropped to 29 percent in 1998
   and to just 18 percent in 2010 (click the Low Participation link).

   There are undoubtedly many reasons for both the disproportionate
   representation and this downward trend. But society suffers overall
   when one gender prevails in one of the most lucrative and
   fastest-growing sectors of white-collar employment. Coding is useful in
   every information-based job, and it's a tool for both entrepreneurship
   and employee advancement.

   Happily, App Camp for Girls is part of [5]a larger trend to create
   opportunities for girls to get involved in programming and engineering
   by providing training within environments that strive to eliminate the
   social pressures and other discouragements still prevalent in the
   broader technology world.

References

   1. http://www.appcamp4girls.com/
   2. http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/app-camp-for-girls
   3. https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~women/resources/aroundTheWeb/hostedPapers/Syllabus-Camp.pdf
   4. http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/2013/digest/theme2_1.cfm
   5. http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/opening-a-gateway-for-girls-to-enter-the-computer-field/

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