YWCA of Silicon Valley

TechGYRLS®

TechGYRLS® is a highly successful nation-wide YWCA after-school empowerment program that provides girls ages 5-14 with the opportunities to increase their skills and confidence in the use of technology and in engineering. TechGYRLS® was developed by the YWCA USA in 1997 after seeing the need to strengthen girls’ interest and competency in computer literacy as it has become a key job skill in nearly every profession today. The goal of TechGYRLS® is to provide technology education in a supportive, all-girl environment where girls feel comfortable taking risks and opening up to new learning opportunities.

The program engages elementary and middle school girls in activities to stimulate a deeper interest in technology while enhancing critical thinking, time management, teamwork, problem solving, and presentation skills. Projects include computer animation, fundamental engineering concepts, and video production, with web design and robotics planned for the future. Career development is another component as the program tries to reach girls at a young age.

Program Sites:

Canoas Elementary School (map)
Horace Mann Elementary School (map)

Number of Program Participants: 15-20 girls per site per class.

For more information, please email Tanya Ramos TechGYRLS® Facilitator,or call her at (408) 295-4011 ext.325.

Classroom/Computer Lab Activities

Design multimedia projects with musical compositions, sound effects, and animated drawings with MicroWorlds software.
Construct bridges, towers, and other structures while investigating form and function, stability and force.
Learn to be a responsible user of the Internet by exploring the web, evaluating content of the websites found, collecting information of value and making projects out of that information.

Additionally, girls will hear from women engineers and other professionals with careers in science and technology for real-world instruction, mentoring, and role-modeling. Girls who complete a full school year of TechGYRLS® will be invited to return as peer mentors.

The YWCA of Silicon Valley has launched TechGYRLS® to serve girls within Santa Clara County who may have limited access to the technology developed and produced by Silicon Valley Companies.


	TechGYRLS®

If you would like to participate as a speaker or volunteer with our TechGYRLS® Program, please call (408) 295-4011 ext. 202 or email Stacy Castle, AEO.

The American Association of University Women study, Tech-Savy: Educating Girls in the New Computer age (2000) confirms that computer science is the only field in which women’s participation has decreased over time---women receive less that 28% of computer science related bachelor’s degrees, down from a high of 37% in 1984.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 75% of future jobs will require the use of computers; however, fewer than 33% of participants in computer courses and related activities are girls.

Women make up 51% of the U.S. population and 46% of the nation’s labor force, but only 22% of working scientists and engineers are women, according to a U.S. report from the National Science Foundation.