Frequently Asked Questions

Who is eligible to participate?

All Franklin Regional girls rising to grades 6, 7, 8, or 9.

Who is teaching the camp?

Courtney, the Program Leader, is a graduating senior at FR and has been involved with FEAT for four years. She has been coding since 7th grade, and is involved with many different STEM and CS activities. The camp staff are also girls in computer science and STEM at FR. The high school's computer science teacher will also be helping with the camp.

Where is the camp?

The camp will be virtual this year via Google Meet!

What is NCWIT AspireIT?

NCWIT AspireIT connects high school and college women with K-12 girls interested in computing. Using a near-peer model, program leaders teach younger girls fundamentals in programming and computational thinking through fun, creative environments that are supported by partner organizations from the NCWIT community. The relationship between the program leaders and their partner organizations fosters mentoring with technical professionals, increases young women’s confidence in their computing abilities, develops valuable leadership skills, and builds a community of like-minded peers.

How many participants will NCWIT AspireIT serve?

Started in 2013, the NCWIT AspireIT program has invested $1 million+ to support 400+ programs across the country, providing more than 300,000 hours of instruction to 10,000+ young women.

Why is this program important?

• Technology increasingly permeates every aspect of society, yet girls and women in the U.S. are significantly underrepresented in its creation. Girls' lack of participation in this important and growing area has serious consequences, not only for them, but for the future of technology innovation.

• Girls comprise 56% of all Advanced Placement (AP) test-takers and 47% of all AP Calculus test-takers, but only 23% of all AP Computer Science test-takers.

• Women earn 57% of all undergraduate degrees, but only 19% of all undergraduate computer and information sciences degrees.

• Inadequate computing education shortchanges all kids, especially girls and youth of color who are less likely to have informal opportunities for computing experience outside of school. Just 35 states and the District of Columbia allow computer science to count as a math or science graduation requirement.

• Computing jobs are among the fastest-growing and highest-paying: the U.S. Department of Labor estimates that by 2026, there will be more than 3.5 million computing-related job openings. At current rates, however, we can only fill about 17% of those jobs with U.S. computing undergraduates.

• Girls represent a valuable, untapped talent pool. If technology is mostly designed by the half of our population who are men, we're missing out on the innovations, solutions, and creations that 50% of the population could bring.

Who sponsors NCWIT AspireIT?

AspireIT is supported by Google, Northrop Grumman, and Bank of New York Mellon. NCWIT AspireIT is a component of NCWIT Aspirations in Computing (AiC), a national initiative providing technical girls and women with ongoing engagement, visibility, and encouragement for their computing-related interests and achievements from high school through college and into the workforce. Visit www.aspirations.org/aspireit for more information.

What is NCWIT?

The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) is a non-profit change leader network of more than 1,100 universities, companies, non-profits, and government organizations nationwide working to increase women’s meaningful participation in computing. NCWIT equips change leaders with resources and platforms for taking action in recruiting, retaining, and advancing women from K–12 and higher education through industry and entrepreneurial careers. Find out more at www.ncwit.org.