Gender Balance in Computing - register your interest for our first project!
11 June 2019
Since we launched in April, we've been inundated with kind offers of participation from schools and individuals around England. We are therefore excited to open the first of our project interventions for expressions of interest.
We know that in 2018, only 20% of entries to GCSE Computer Science were from girls, but we also know girls are well-represented in extra-curricular learning programmes like Apps for Good and Code Club. This project strand will investigate the links between extra-curricular learning and subject choice to discover new ways we can encourage girls to consider GCSE Computer Science. As with all our content, we will be providing ready-to-use materials to minimise the demand on teachers.
What we need
We are looking for Secondary teachers and Code Club leaders who would like to work with us to run in-school/in-club activities. Find your pathway below for specific information about what you can expect.
| Secondary Schools | Code Clubs |
|---|---|
| The project will start in September 2019 and will run until March 2020. | The project will start in September 2019 and will run until March 2020. |
| Your school will use the Apps for Good App Development Standard Course with year 8 pupils at some point between September 2019 and March 2020. The course will take an average of 12 hours to deliver. It should be made available to all students regardless of gender. | Your club will use Code Club’s online projects for a minimum of 12 weeks during this time. You can use these projects with all children at your club regardless of gender. |
| Schools may try out some new resources designed to encourage more girls to consider GCSE Computer Science. They will be very closely based on the existing Apps for Good programme, but with some extra activities. | Code Clubs may try out some new resources designed to encourage more girls to take part in formal learning about computing. They are very closely based on existing Code Club projects, but with some extra activities. |
| We’ll provide some short online surveys for your students to complete at the start and end of the project, so we can find out the impact of these activities. | We’ll provide some short online surveys for your club members at the start and end of the project, so we can find out the impact of these activities. |
| If you agree to take part, your school will receive the new resources in either September 2019 or March 2020. | If you agree to take part, your club will receive the new resources in either September 2019 or March 2020. |
Get involved
If you've read the above and are excited about the prospect of working with us on this world-leading piece of research, drop us a line to express your interest on the appropriate link below. The deadline for submissions is midnight on Friday 13 September.
Code Clubs: ncce.io/gbici5cc
Secondary Schools: ncce.io/gbici5ss