Thank you for the wonderful and inspiring article on the HowGirlsCode club ("Coding opportunities for girls expanding in Howard," Dec. 2). Getting our young people involved in computing is extremely important in today's technological world, and increasing the diversity of the workforce in computer science and IT is essential if we are to continue to be the global leader in technology innovation. As a member of the HowGirlsCode advisory board, I am proud to be part of the organization and continually impressed at the drive and energy of its founders, Katie Egan and Lisa Schlossnagle.
I did want to correct one error of fact in the article. It states, "three percent of students elect to study computer science in college yet 60 percent of jobs today are in that field." This should read, "60 percent of new STEM jobs today are in that field." About 20 percent of all jobs are STEM jobs so 12 percent of new jobs in the upcoming years will be in computing-related fields. There is, of course, still a substantial gap between the demand (12 percent) and the available talent (3 percent). Much of that gap could be closed if women and minority students went into computing at the same rate as white males — hence the need for those underrepresented populations to be encouraged to consider these careers.
Marie desJardins, Fulton