AAUW Gets $100K Grant To Expand Courses at Tech Trek Camps

This summer, 1,600 girls will attend STEM-related summer camps in 21 locations around the United States.A major information protection company has given the American Association of University Women (AAUW) $100,000 to expand course offerings in its National Tech Trek Program in which middle-school girls spend a week at a summer camp focusing on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

The grant from Symantec will allow AAUW to create a pilot course in cybersecurity at camps scheduled at Bowling Green State University, Stanford University and the University of California Irvine.

AAUW initiated the first Tech Trek summer camp at Stanford in 1998. Three years ago, the AAUW national organization expanded the program throughout the country and this summer 1,600 girls will attend camps in 21 locations, mostly on college campuses.

AAUW, an organization whose aim is to empower women and girls, focuses the Tech Trek camps on middle-school girls because it believes that is the crucial time to stimulate their interest in STEM topics. Research provided by AAUW indicates that 77 percent of Tech Trek alumnae have completed a precalculus course by the time they graduate from high school, compared to a national average of 37 percent for all girls.

"Women make up just 26 percent of the computing workforce," said AAUW Executive Director and CEO Linda D. Hallman, "but AAUW is working hard to increase that number."

"Providing STEM and literacy education to young adults, particularly women and minorities, is a business imperative at Symantec," said Vice President of Corporate Responsibility Cecily Joseph. "This grant will help build a pipeline of qualified girls to enter the in-demand field of cybersecurity."

About the Author

Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.

Featured

  • robot typing on a computer

    Microsoft Unveils 'Computer Use' Automation in Copilot Studio

    Microsoft has announced a new AI-powered feature called "computer use" for its Copilot Studio platform that allows agents to directly interact with Web sites and desktop applications using simulated mouse clicks, menu selections and text inputs.

  • AI microchip under cybersecurity attack, surrounded by symbols of threats like a skull, spider, lock, and warning shield

    Report Finds Agentic AI Protocol Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks

    A new report from Backslash Security has identified significant security vulnerabilities in the Model Context Protocol (MCP), technology introduced by Anthropic in November 2024 to facilitate communication between AI agents and external tools.

  • educators seated at a table with a laptop and tablet, against a backdrop of muted geometric shapes

    HMH Forms Educator Council to Inform AI Tool Development

    Adaptive learning company HMH has established an AI Educator Council that brings together teachers, instructional coaches and leaders from school district across the country to help shape its AI solutions.

  • illustration of a human head with a glowing neural network in the brain, connected to tech icons on a cool blue-gray background

    Meta Introduces Stand-Alone AI App

    Meta Platforms has launched a stand-alone artificial intelligence app built on its proprietary Llama 4 model, intensifying the competitive race in generative AI alongside OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and xAI.