No, I didn’t make that up. It’s a legit organization. I met the Founder and Executive Director Janice Levenhagen-Seeley this week and was super impressed. She is on a mission and having great success bringing young women into the coding field.

Here are some startling statistics for you to consider.

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates 1.4 million new jobs in computer science will be created in the USA by 2020.

• The National Center for Education Statistics states that in 1985, 37% of Comp Sci graduates were women. Today it’s down to 15%.

• The College board reports that 54% of AP test-takers were female, but only 19% took the Computer Science AP exam.

Girls are bailing out of the entire STEM track in middle school, and as a result are missing out on careers in our industry. This is a well-known issue, but nobody has solved the problem.

Chick Tech has taken on the mission to bring those girls back into STEM before they leave High School. Chick Tech gathers together 100 high school sophomore and junior girls, nominated by their school faculty, and fires the students up about building technology rather than simply using it. The girls are encouraged by women (and men) IT professionals serving as mentors, develop coding and engineering skills, and explore career options in the tech field. Projects include robotics, web programming, gaming, and building computers. Thus far, ChickTech has a chapter in Portland and San Francisco.

The early results are heartening. The interest in a tech career triples among the girls who attend the initial 2-day seminar. And after the longer one-year program, their confidence in working with technology doubles and the majority pursue a degree in tech.

The WTIA is now working closely with Chick Tech to help them launch a chapter in Seattle.

Check out their website at ChickTech.org and make a donation.