Bethesda Teen Ready to Leap Over Gender Gap in Tech World (VIDEO & PHOTOS)

Four years from now, as many as 1.4 million jobs will be available for people with the skills needed in the computer technology world. Yet only three percent of the women in the U.S. are on track to fill those positions in computing fields. That is changing with a summer immersion in computer coding offered to girls in 42 states and the District of Columbia. MyMCMedia’s Phyllis Armstrong reports 19 girls graduated from AT&T’s Inaugural Girls Who Code Program including a Bethesda teen.

Ale Gonzalez will take AP Computer Science at Walt Whitman High this school year. Five Montgomery County high school girls participated in AT&T’s Inaugural Girls Who Code Program from late June to early August. Girls Who Code is a non-profit organization dedicated to closing the gender gap in technology. Currently, about 10,000 young women a year are graduating with degrees in computer science. Go to Girls Who Code for more information about the clubs and programs available in the Washington region. Georgetown University has also offered a Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program.

About Phyllis Armstrong

Phyllis Armstrong is a multimedia journalist with more than 30 years of experience in writing, reporting and broadcasting. She covered a wide range of news interests and issues as a general assignment reporter for WUSA-TV in Washington, D.C. from 1984 to 2009. Phyllis has continued to produce feature stories about local restaurants, culinary professionals and minority achievers for several online publications. Cooking, reading and Tai Chi are among are favorite things to do.

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