Stemiverse 0042 – Ruthe Farmer on increasing girls’ participation in technology and engineering 

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In this episode, Dr. Peter Dalmaris talks with Ruthe Farmer.

Ruthe Farmer is Chief Evangelist at CSforALL, a national organization in the United States, working to bring rigorous, inclusive and sustainable computer science education to all US students.

Ruth previously served in the Obama administration as Senior Policy Advisor for Tech Inclusion in the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy.

As a policymaker and activist Ruthe’s focus is on increasing girls’ participation in technology and engineering.

Here’s some of the amazing work she has done, and some of the awards she has received in the past:

She has worked for the Girl Scouts, as a program manager for STEM education, and was a founding committee member of the Oregon Robotics and Tournament Outreach Program. Ruthe was named a “Champion of Change for Technology Inclusion” by the White House in 2013 and won the Anita Borg Institute’s 2014 Social Impact ABIE award.

This is Stemiverse Podcast episode 42.

Stemiverse podcast is brought to you by Tech Explorations, a leading provider of educational resources for Makers, STEM students, and teachers. Go to techexplorations.com to see a complete list of our books and courses covering the Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and electronics.

Show Notes

• [spp-timestamp time=”00:00″] Introduction – Introducing Ruthe Farmer
• [spp-timestamp time=”03:40″] Ruthe talks about her background and what brought her to where she is now
• [spp-timestamp time=”05:10″] Ruthe’s introduction to feminism through a class into the rhetoric of women
• [spp-timestamp time=”05:33″] Examples of Influential Women: Ada Wells, Susan B. Anthony
• [spp-timestamp time=”05:48″] The history books left out the contributions of women
• [spp-timestamp time=”06:12″] What would Ruthe do for the world if she could write a grant for any amount of money?
• [spp-timestamp time=”06:49″] Ruthe’s journey from Advertising & Marketing to Girl Scouts of the USA and Intel Design & Discovery
• [spp-timestamp time=”09:57″] Being an advocate of Computer Science despite having a background other than computer science or teaching
• [spp-timestamp time=”17:16″] Computer Science for All | Ruthe Farmer | TEDxBeaconStreet
• [spp-timestamp time=”19:44″] “There’s this perception that because we have computers, we actually have computing education.”
• [spp-timestamp time=”19:56″] Computer science was much stronger in the 80s and 90s
• [spp-timestamp time=”21:03″] Everything is a touchscreen for 3-year-olds!
• [spp-timestamp time=”21:36″] There’s a massive amount of investment in EdTech, but there are not enough trained in computer science teachers
• [spp-timestamp time=”22:32″] Did something change in the last years that put computer science education back on the map?
• [spp-timestamp time=”23:59″] NSF Broadening Participation
• [spp-timestamp time=”24:11″] National Center for Women & Information Technology
• [spp-timestamp time=”25:42″] Prior experience is critical for success in college
• [spp-timestamp time=”26:06″] The genesis of STEM and the missing discipline
• [spp-timestamp time=”28:00″] Ruthe’s work at the Obama Administration as a senior policy advisor
• [spp-timestamp time=”31:18″] Ruthe talks about her experience in the White House: Scout & Scale, CSforALL Movement
• [spp-timestamp time=”35:54″] The fields where computational thinking can be applied
• [spp-timestamp time=”38:13″] Understanding computational thinking
• [spp-timestamp time=”39:32″] The engineering and technology disciplines suffer from an image issue
• [spp-timestamp time=”45:53″] The importance of mentors and advice for teachers who want to bring CS to the classroom
• [spp-timestamp time=”48:09″] Twitter chats: #csk8 , @CSforAllTchrs , #csforallteachers
• [spp-timestamp time=”48:19″] The Computer Science Teachers Association
• [spp-timestamp time=”49:36″] Mentors and sponsors vs. the traditional teacher
• [spp-timestamp time=”52:35″] Reasons for declining a sponsorship discussion for a student and advice to organizations on how to help and support CSforALL
• [spp-timestamp time=”54:31″] The Boeing Saint Louis Example: Building a Makerspace and hiring teenagers as interns to teach
• [spp-timestamp time=”55:30″] What would Ruthe do to promote CS, having an unlimited budget? Make it financially attractive to become a CS teacher and put resources into building a pipeline of teachers of color in CS
• [spp-timestamp time=”57:07″] Movies like Black Panther and the power of role models – A research study that showed girls 6 and under, drawing a woman scientist 75% (The Doc McStuffins effect)
• [spp-timestamp time=”58:40″] Rapid Fire Questions
• [spp-timestamp time=”58:51″] Ruthe’s Book Recommendations: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
• [spp-timestamp time=”01:01:05″] Fake news and the importance of education in being able to discern what’s important
• [spp-timestamp time=”01:02:37″] Opportunity for activism and change enabled with technology
• [spp-timestamp time=”01:03:35″] Most influential people according to Ruthe: Dr. Janis Lochner, Professor of Biochemistry at Lewis & Clark College, and the importance of encouragement
• [spp-timestamp time=”01:06:32″] The social cost for girls who want to take CS classes
• [spp-timestamp time=”01:08:00″] CSforALL Summit 2018
• [spp-timestamp time=”01:11:55″] CSforALL Summit 2017 – Video Archive
• [spp-timestamp time=”01:12:23″] Ruthe’s Contact Information: Email: [email protected], Twitter: @RutheF