On Wednesday, March 18, NHTI will host the third annual Girls Technology Day, an initiative of the New Hampshire Department of Education’s Career Development Bureau. In New Hampshire, and across the country, there is a severe shortage of women pursuing technical careers. Fewer than 2 percent of students pursuing computer science degrees in N.H. colleges, for example, are women. Girls Technology Day is one step toward trying to reverse that trend.
The event is a collaboration of every level of education in New Hampshire, including high schools, community colleges and universities. The day is focused on grades 9 and 10, because that is the age at which many young people begin focusing on interests that may ultimately become career paths. Paradoxically, it is also the age at which girls often seem to get “turned off” to math, science and technology. Invitations went out to New Hampshire high schools, but educators were urged not to make the event a mandatory field trip.
The girls will hear from two keynote speakers: Cindy Brown, a former senior executive at Yahoo who is now a senior vice president at Dyn, a cloud-based internet performance company based in Manchester; and Meghan Haidul, Fire Protection Engineer for the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant.
The rest of the day will consist of a series of hands-on workshops exploring various high technology topics. Students will be able to attend four of the available sessions.
The workshops will be led by educators and business leaders from various New Hampshire universities, community colleges and industries.
During their lunch break the students will attend a technology exhibition in the NHTI gym.
Due to overwhelming demand during the program’s first two years, Girls Technology Day has actually grown, with a second day March 19 in Manchester.
