LENOIR, NC (January 26, 2021) — South Caldwell High School has earned the College Board AP® Computer Science Female Diversity Award for achieving high female representation in AP Computer Science Principles.
Out of the 20,000 institutions that offer AP courses, South Caldwell was one of 831 recognized in the category of AP Computer Science Principles (CSP) and more than a thousand achieved either 50% or higher female representation in one of the two AP computer science courses or exceeding that of the school’s female population during the 2019-2020 school year.
“We could not be more proud of South Caldwell female students for pursuing their interest in STEM and computer science as well as the school counselors who encouraged them to do it,” said Superintendent Dr. Don Phipps. “We can’t wait to see if their excitement leads them to become the next generation of entrepreneurs, engineers or tech leaders.”
According to College Board research, female students who take AP CSP in high school are more than 5 times as likely to major in computer science in college, compared to similar female students who did not take CSP. The study also finds AP CSP serves as a stepping-stone to other advanced AP STEM coursework.
The median annual wage for computer and information technology occupations was $88,240 in May 2019. However, a code.org analysis of 2017 Bureau of Labor Statistics data finds women represent just 24% of the 5 million people in computing occupations.