Microsoft’s DigiGirlz introduces Delaware teens to STEM disciplines

How do we get more women in tech? That’s a problem Microsoft’s DigiGirlz program hopes to remedy.
A partnership between Microsoft, the Department of Education, the Delaware Center for Educational Technology and the Delaware Department of Technology and Information, DigiGirlz aims to get eighth- and ninth-grade girls acquainted with careers in STEM.
Now in its fifth iteration in Delaware, this year’s DigiGirlz Day gathered 150 girls at Wilmington University’s New Castle campus.
“It’s about this age, when they’re in the eighth or ninth grade, that they lose interest and they don’t pursue a career, so we’re looking to try and change that today,” Delaware Chief Security Officer Elaine Starkey told Delaware 105.9.
The girls had the opportunity to choose between one of four tracks: app design, robotics, cybersecurity and mobile forensics. Each track provided an opportunity to participate in hands-on workshops.
“The gender divide in technology has been a problem for a long time,” said Mark Hufe, Wilmington University’s director of cyber security education, adding that DigiGirlz is a “great way to introduce eighth- and ninth-grade girls from Delaware to a variety of technology disciplines at a time in their lives when they’re starting to think about what they might want to do for a living.”