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About TechREACH
The mission of TechREACH is to increase middle school students’ interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) through hands-on high-quality curriculum, mentoring and teacher professional development. We create a supportive, diverse educational community focused on students’ needs through partnerships with parents, schools, communities, business, and higher education. TechREACH is offered through after school clubs targeting at-risk middle school students. Schools select a teacher, who receives a stipend to deliver the program to approximately 10-15 students in each club.
Background
TechREACH is a program of the Puget Sound Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology (PSCTLT), which began with start-up funding from a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant and additional funding from The Seattle Foundation. Launched in 2003, TechREACH originally targeted at-risk middle school girls, the group most likely to fall behind in the science, technology, engineering and math areas. Over 700 Western Washington middle school girls participated in TechREACH the first four years. Grants from the National Science Foundation and Washington State University Center to Bridge the Digital Divide have enabled
TechREACH to expand to the Pasco, Sunnyside and Granger areas of Eastern Washington and offer clubs to over 200 boys and girls.
The Research
- Women earned nearly 60 percent of all undergraduate degrees at American colleges and universities in 2006, and yet in computing and information sciences they earned only 21 percent of bachelor’s degrees. (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System)
- Women currently hold 56 percent of professional positions in the U.S. workforce. Three of the ten fastest-growing occupations between 2004 and 2014 are computing-related, yet women hold only 27 percent of professional computing-related positions. (Occupational Outlook Handbook, Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2004-2005)
- Women, Latinos, and other minorities are the least likely to be interested in or aware of high-tech careers (Kearney, 2002), and women make up only 27% of workers in the areas of computer and mathematical operations. (U.S. Department of Labor, 2005) Barriers include a lack of confidence, negative attitudes toward computers, lack of social support, and the belief that computers require solitary work with little social relevance. (American Association of University Women, 2000; Goode, Estrella, & Margolis, 2006; Zarrett, Malanchuk, Davis-Kean, & Eccles, 2006)
- Hispanics constitute nearly 20% of the nation’s K-12 student population, but only 10% of postsecondary enrollment – and just 6% of baccalaureate recipients. (Education Commission of the States, The Progress of Education Reform 2004: Hispanic Achievement, August 2004)
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