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Camp Infinity Gets Girls Excited About Technology By becky johnson or five consecutive years, a summer technology camp for girls has been over capacity. The Michigan Council of Women in Technology (MCWT) Camp Infinity is held each year to introduce math, technology, and science as fun and fulfilling to fourth through seventh graders. With the number of women in technologyrelated positions dropping to less than one-third of the IT workforce, MCWT is determined to reverse the trend by encouraging girls early in life to consider technology-related pursuits. “We see that there aren’t equal numbers of women and men in technical professions, and we want to bridge that gender gap,” said Rosemary Bayer, Global Client Executive at Sun Microsystems and Co-Founder of MCWT. “At MCWT we ask ourselves, ‘What if all middle school girls had the same opportunities and encouragement to play with technology? What if technology became cool in high school?’” These questions have fueled the development of MCWT’s Camp Infinity. The intensive, five-day summer camp held at Lawrence Technological University Southfield campus features prominent IT role models from across Michigan and educational sessions facilitated by industry experts at both large and small corporations and organizations. Girls take classes on robotics and webpage design and development, and work in teams to learn about computer science and engineering. At Camp Infinity held each summer at Lawrence Tech in Southfield, girls get close personal attention as they learn to design their own website. 40 | Technology Century | APRIL–MAY 2009
is the future—with the power to entertain, simplify, and expedite—girls change their perception of the field and start to ask more questions.” It’s well-documented that a diverse, talented, and well-rounded IT workforce is needed in the next decade. MCWT’s camp is an example of the grassroots effort necessary all over the United Sates—and particularly in Michigan—to encourage women to take leadership roles in the field. “If Michigan is going to be a leader in this new high-tech world, these students are the ones who are going to do it,” said Ms. Bayer. Soon, there should be more camps just like this one popping up because there is clearly a strong demand. With only word-of-mouth buzz, last summer’s MCWT Camp Infinity was filled to capacity with approximately 60 girls on a waiting list. An MCWT Camp Infinity blueprint program has just been launched to share best practices and lessons learned so that other institutions and organizations can start similar programs. Michigan State University, ITEC, Macomb Community College, and Davenport University recently convened to learn how they can model their own camps after MCWT’s successful Camp Infinity. Camp Infinity gives girls the opportunity to have fun with technology, which is one of the goals of the Michigan Council of Women in Technology. It’s a collaborative effort among high school student volunteers, corporate sponsors, and technology leaders. “It’s our goal to show girls that not only can they build a robot, create a website, and plan a technology career, but that they can have fun doing it,” Ms. Bayer said. “There are so many exciting challenges and rewards an IT career can bring. We simply need to show them and create that spark.” Statistics show that females start to lose interest in science and math by middle school. According to Ms. Bayer, by the time girls get to high school, it’s often too late. It may seem counterintuitive that young girls are shying away from pursuing technology careers since kids today have grown up on computers. With ease they navigate the Internet, design PowerPoint presentations for class, and play realistic video games. Hours spent on instant messaging mean those small fingers pound the keyboard faster than their parents can. “We must challenge girls to attend computer camps like this one—to face their fears and embrace curiosity,” said Diane Cairns, eLearning Evaluation/ Assessment Specialist at Lawrence Tech and Director of Special Projects for the MCWT Foundation. “One of the most popular components of MCWT Camp Infinity is introducing female students to passionate, high-energy professionals enthusiastic about their IT jobs. By having lunch with dynamic visionaries who believe technology Last summer girls at Camp Infinity learned to design, build and program robots to push a competitor out of the RoboSumo ring. Becky Johnson is a Senior Account Executive for Integrated Brand Communications firm The Quell Group, where she provides communications planning, marketing support, and media relations to the company’s civil engineering, logistics, automotive supplier, and technology clients. She is also the Director of Marketing and Communications for the Michigan Council of Women in Technology. www.esd.org | The Engineering Society of Detroit | 41
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