Using technology to help girls help the world

Kimberly Scott, associate professor of women and gender studies in the School of Social Transformation and executive director of COMPUGIRLS, is featured on the March 17 cover of Diverse magazine. The accompanying article, “Click Change-Artists,” opens the special issue devoted to technology in higher education.  

Scott founded COMPUGIRLS at ASU after launching a similar program at Hofstra University. The program gives 13- to 18-year-old girls from under-resourced districts in the Phoenix area the training to apply technology tools to community or social issues. Funded with grants from NSF and the Arizona Community Foundation, the program has served 200 girls since 2007.

“I was concerned with the low participation of young women from higher needs school districts in science, technology, engineering and math,” says Scott. “Excluded from the fastest-growing technological fields, their economic prospects were grim; yet I knew the interest in technology was there. As a teacher, it’s important to empower my students and provide them the skills that will expand their opportunities.”