Girl Geek Academy is calling on Australian high school principals to enrol female students in “AI High”, a new initiative teaching teens AI skills.
AI High is a program created by Girl Geek Academy with the support of The Telstra Foundation. Currently, 2000 high school girls and non-binary students are enrolled. This initiative aims to equip young women and gender-diverse students with the necessary tools to break into and become leaders in the tech sector. The students will be able to make friends, build AI together, and prepare themselves for a bright future in tech.
This program comes as a response to the current lack of gender diversity in the tech sector. There has been a significant drop in student enrolment in ICT subjects in Years 11 and 12 in Australian schools, leading to fewer students pursuing tech in further education and beyond, according to a report by ANU.
Kane, an AI leader in game development explained, “Learning AI is pivotal in closing the gender divide in tech. AI High will enable young women to not only benefit from, but be play a leadership role in the creation of new AI technologies,”
“Studying technology subjects is often an isolating experience within your own school: there’s a lack of community and it’s rare to find mentors who are passionate about sharing new technology. However “pair programming” with mates is critical to building new tech, and this program will connect young people at a national level to work together and meet new friends, regardless of where they live,” Kane said.
Girl Geek Academy is asking high school principals, teachers, and parents across Australia to share the EOI for AI High with students.
If you have any questions, you can reach out to Girl Geek Academy.
To express interest in the AI High program, visit: www.girlgeekacademy.com/ai-high
Technology companies looking to get involved and potentially collaborate with Girl Geek Academy are also encouraged to get in touch. Further details about the program will evolve in the coming weeks as more partners are announced.
Girl Geek Academy is a social enterprise dedicated to achieving gender equality in the technology industry. They aim to bring one million women and girls into technology careers by 2030 through a range of programs, most recently teaching AI skills to over 1,000 high school girls. They work to tackle structural issues facing women and girls in technology by influencing families, corporations, government, schools, and the tech community. In 2014 they ran the first all-women hackathon in the world, #SheHacks, and their community has been based on making friends in tech globally ever since.
