Workers in the science and technology fields are made up mostly of men, but Microsoft is trying to change that with their Digigirlz program. Digigirlz is a program designed to give high school girls the chance to learn about jobs in technology, meet with Microsoft employees and participate in hands on technology workshops. In their latest effort to get girls interested in technology, Microsoft has teamed up with Barbie, more specifically Computer Engineer Barbie.
Just 10% of engineers in the US are women and only 18% of those that get a degree in computer science are women. In an effort to raise those numbers Microsoft recently teamed up Mattel and the Girl Scouts of Northern California to encourage the young girls to consider pursuing computer science careers.
Microsoft held the Digigirlz Summit where over 200 Girl Scouts, community leaders, government officials and Microsoft employees were in attendance. Of those 200 girls, 20 managed to complete an online training course to earn their Computer Smarts badge. After the Digigirlz Summit a panel of women from the tech, government and academia spoke about the best ways to encourage girls to consider tech-related majors and careers.