This post was written by Johnie Lee Fain, a recent graduate of San Rafael High School and the Academy. She is currently planning on studying computer science at Villanova University

I spent three years of my high school career in the engineering lab, and at most, there were six other girls beside me.

As a high school senior presented with the challenge of choosing an engineering project to research and produce as the focus of my third year in the Academy I turned to my own experience. I wanted more female students to discover an appreciation for not just STEM studies, but applying it to their own interests, whether that be art, fashion, literature, etc. Based on my opportunity to work with physics, fabrication and design, and computer science, my goal was to reach out to other girls, and facilitate a community of exposure and collaborative thinking for female students on campus and their varying degrees of interests in a STEM education. I then took this inspiration and used programming as my platform.

The graph below shows the enrollment ratio of male to female students From the 2013-14 academic year to 2016-17. 

After initial research of the outstanding gender gap in science based fields, I focused my project development on the San Rafael High School campus specifically. Aside from my own opinions, I sought to learn and understand the experiences of my female peers in STEM as well as those who showed little enthusiasm about the subject. Thus, a discussion group was created to pair girls with little to no experience in STEM, with another eagerly involved student. This transition sought to introduce topics of discussion, and create a space for learning, project development and sharing of peer to peer experiences. Through this I sought to introduce Science, Technology, Math and engineering as an opportunity rather than an unknown.

SRHS Girls at the screening of CODE: Debugging the Gender Gap

There was a larger emphasis on social participation in my project than I had expected initially. I found myself talking to administrators, talking to younger students, and researching new ways to encourage young females than focusing on the technical aspects of my project. It is safe to say I underestimated my ability to create a recruiting website from scratch when I was still learning the basics of Computer Science. This deficit in what I thought was my only was to reach out to the community was in fact an example of the very work I was trying to emphasize. That while learning something new, I could share my thoughts, work and progress withe the girls around me.

Outside of San Rafael, I found mentorships and employment opportunities to help guide my project. Under the guidance of Ryan Robinett, a former partner at the software company Digital Foundry, I was able to visualize what I was attempting to accomplish in website design in the “real world.” This exposure not only broadened my understanding of the complexity of computing but as well as its team based nature. I felt somewhat vindicated in my struggle to produce something original when on a day to day basis software engineers are working in groups almost entirely. Additionally, my employment as a coding instructor at Mill Valley Code Club, a program designed to teach elementary through middle school students how to computer program, I was practicing how to explain and teach the vary programming fundamentals I was learning to a younger audience. Certainly solidifying the material I knew, and highlighting what I had yet to understand.

Ending the year I found I had not only exposed myself to programming in a variety of ways but had introduced the importance of collaborative thinking and communication amongst the female students and their envelopment in STEM education. Moving forward, the importance is consistency. Through deliberate action and communication, the next batch of San Rafael High School Engineering Academy graduates have an opportunity to continue to close the gender gap and inspire others.

SRHS girls meeting the film maker of She Started It