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There was a time when our educational foundation was defined by language and literature, arts,
and traditional sciences.
But in today's world, having computer science skills is equally critical for success later
in life.
Problem is only one in four high schools here in the U.S. actually teach computer science.
And that leaves millions of young people at a disadvantage.
Thankfully, Microsoft is out to change that.
Yvonne Thomas is the Director of Global Programs for Microsoft Philanthropies and leads Youth
Spark.
I want to welcome you to the show.
It's so great to have you here.
Thanks for having me.
So, why is it so important for young people to have computer science skills in today's
world?
Well, as we know, most young people today are digital natives, which means they know
how to use technology.
One of the things many of them are not getting the opportunity to do is learn why technology
works the way it does and most importantly how to create with technology.
We know that even if a young person gets the opportunity to try computer science, they
build really important skills like computational thinking and problem solving that any employer
is going to want them to have no matter what industry they decide to go into.
And then if they do choose that computer science is something that they want to pursue, there's
lots of opportunities out there for them.
There's about 1.2 million expected job openings by 2020 in computing, but only about 40% of
American graduates will be able to fill those jobs.
So there's going to be a huge demand.
Well, when Microsoft looked at access to computer science technology, who was underserved and
why?
What we saw was that even though women are representative of about 56% of professional
careers, professional occupations, in the U.S., they represent only about 26% of computing
occupations.
Wow.
And as you start to look at women of color, those numbers are even smaller, almost always
in single digits in the computing industry.
This isn't just an American reality, it's a worldwide reality, correct?
That is correct.
Depending on the country, some of the pieces vary, but women are underrepresented across
the industry.
Tell us about Youth Spark and how this all came about.
Youth Spark was created in 2012, and we looked at what we could do as a technology company
to make sure that young people around the world were getting access to the skills that
we know are most important.
And the last year we've really focused that on computer science education.
Not only do we want all kids to get that opportunity to really learn some of those skills, learn
how technology works.
We want them to get some of the really important skills that come by learning computer science,
things like computational thinking, problem solving.
And then if young people decided that they wanted to pursue computer science as a career,
that's great, but that isn't sort of our only goal.
We want to make sure that this becomes as broad as something like Biology.
So what kinds of opportunities and programs does Youth Spark offer here in the U.S. and
internationally?
We do a number of things through Youth Spark, some of them we run on our own.
There's a program called TEALS where we bring technology industry experts into classrooms
and they team-teach computer science around the U.S.
Cool!
Yeah.
We partner with leading nonprofit organizations like Boys & Girls Clubs, City Year, Year Up,
Code.Org, and Girls Who Code, who work in local communities to bring computer science
education to students in school and out of school.
And we also have some online resources.
Tell us how Youth Spark is addressing those gender based challenges.
One of the unfortunate things we know about why women don't go into technology is because
of the perception challenges.
Who belongs in technology?
What kind of jobs exist?
And women often don't see themselves there and can't imagine that.
So one of the things that we've done and we're most excited about is a program that was started
by a Microsoft employee.
It's called DigiGirlz.
Very cool!
DigiGirlz.
She started it as a volunteer activity during women's history month, and it's grown.
It's now a program that the company runs to help girls get excited about what careers
could look like.
They're hosted at Microsoft offices.
So, we bring in girls to Microsoft offices and they spend a day with women at Microsoft
understanding what their jobs looks like, who they are, and what it could be like to
work in a technology company.
And I know our viewers and especially their daughters and my daughters would love to get
a feel for what it's like to be part of Youth Spark's initiative for girls.
So let's do that right now.
Check this out.
We're here today at a Microsoft Youth Spark event that I actually started out at a few
years ago.
I wanted to come back today because I felt it was important to pay it forward and get
involved with the next generation of coders and future technologists.
Coding's meant a lot to me.
It means that I get to take an idea and I get to really work it out and solve a problem.
Technology can change the world because it's not just making phones and applications.
It's about solving global warming, it's about solving the gas fuel problems, battery problems,
problems that can save the world in the future.
Coding is imagination.
Coding changes lives.
Coding is the future.
I want to know, is there a way to assess the success of the program and its global impact
yet?
One of the things that we have accomplished is in the last three years worked with nonprofit
organizations in more than 100 countries.
Wow.
And helped more than 300 million young people find opportunities for employment, education,
and entrepreneurship.
It was so great to have you here.
Thank you so much for having me.
Thank you so much.
And now if you're a teacher, a student, a young person who wants to get involved in
computer science, just head straight to Microsoft.com/YouthSparkHub, and you can also find Youth Spark events at
your local Microsoft store.
Or simply logon to TheBalancingAct.com so you can Be The Change.
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