Closing the STEM Gender Gap: One Classroom at a Time

Episode description

On today's episode of the TeacherCast Podcast, we take a look at the topic of the Gender Gap in STEM Education. For more information on this topic, please visit MakeWhatsNext.com. I would like to thank Microsoft Philanthropies and Microsoft Education for helping to set this episode up.

What if she could be the one to find the cure, crack the code, or invent something that has the potential to save lives? When we encourage girls to pursue science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), we double the potential to solve problems. If she stays in STEM, she could be the one to change the world.

Recent research shows that, on average, only 25% of tech jobs are held by women. If we really want to close the STEM gender gap, we must start early. In this conversation, join current and veteran classroom educators, who share concrete tips and best practices for encouraging girls’ interest in STEM subjects and helping them to persevere once they start down that path.

Tracy Immel Kennedy brings passion, innovation, and education experience to her role as Director of Marketing for YouthSpark, a Microsoft Philanthropies initiative focused on providing access to computer science education for youth most at risk of being left behind. Combining over 20 years of marketing experience with her passion for teaching and building human capacity, Tracy has a unique background that bridges both the public and private sector.

As a consultant, she has worked with governments, schools, NGOs, and companies to effectively integrate technology into teaching and learning. She has personally delivered professional development to over 5,000 educators, trainers, and education leaders and has been a featured presenter and blogger on the topic of building educator capacity. At Microsoft, Tracy developed professional development opportunities for educators and created a Training Provider program that helped scale reach to hundreds of thousands of educators globally.

Today, Tracy is using her unwavering belief that all people should be valued, respected, and have the opportunity to live meaningful, productive lives to help inspire and engage young people in the opportunities that computer science education can enable.

Denise Spence has been an educator for over 22 years. She has earned her Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction, emphasis in Instructional Technology. Over the years, Denise has earned the following IT certification credentials: CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, Adobe Certified Associate in Dreamweaver and Microsoft Office Specialist in Word/PowerPoint/Excel/Outlook. Her accomplishments include being selected as 1 of 3 finalists for Lee County's Teacher of the Year in 2000; she was the 1st ever Career and Technical Education Teacher of the Year for Lee County in 2006; she was named Certiport's Global Summit's Teacher of the Year for 2010. Plus, Denise was a 2011 and a 2012 finalist for the Microsoft Innovation Forum. For her leadership in providing college and career related information technology training, Denise was asked to be a Faculty Champion for the Microsoft Imagine Cup and was selected to be an Adobe Education Leader. For her impact on the business community, Denise was selected as a finalist for the Fort Myers Greater Chamber of Commerce – Women in Business – Apex Award in 2011. Recently, she was nominated in the Education category, for The Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce Celebration of Business & Tourism Chrysalis Awards 2015 & 2016 and Denise was selected as the winner of the Inaugural Southwest Florida Regional Technology Partnership Women in Technology Award for...