In computing's early years, when it was considered women's work, all six programmers of America's first digital computer, Eniac, were women
Memos from the U.K.'s government archives reveal that, in 1959, an unnamed British female computer programmer was given an assignment to train two men. The memos said the woman had ''a good brain and a special flair'' for working with computers. Nevertheless, a year later the men became her managers. Since she was a different class of government worker, she had no chance of ever rising to their pay grade. Today, in the U.S., about a quarter of computing and mathematics jobs are held by women, and that proportion has been declining over the past 20 years. The situation is generally worse at the biggest tech companies: Only one in five engineers at Google or Facebook is a woman, according to the companies' recent diversity reports. A string of recent events - from women coming forward about sexism, harassment and discrimination in the industry, to the controversyover a memo written by a Google employee arguing that women overall are biologically less suited to programming - suggest the steps currently being taken by tech firms to address these issues are inadequate. A growing army of women and members of other underrepresented minorities are working on solutions to these issues.

More than three-quarters of female tech founders, or 78 percent, have either been sexually harassed or have known someone who's been sexually harassed in the workplace, according to a new survey of tech founders by seed-stage venture firm First Round Capital. About half of male founders - 48 percent - have had the same experience. The survey provides context for a slew of sexual harassment incidents in tech that have come to light in recent months. Like this one, this one and this one. And the story is far from over.

What do computer science and technology have to do with school counseling? Can counselors really increase diversity in the technology field? After attending the Counselors for Computingprogram this summer, I say the answer is YES! The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) exists to increase women's participation in computing by working with K-12, higher education organizations and industry to decrease gaps in diversity. NCWIT reports there is a dire shortage of trained professionals in computer science fields. By 2024 only 45% of computing related jobs will be filled by US graduates completing a computing bachelor's degree. In 2016, women comprised only 26% of the computing workforce and less than 10% were women of color.

Inspired by the success of past funding initiatives to train thousands of public school teachers, Infosys Foundation USA will host the Pathfinders Summer Institute 2018, a national convening for K-12 teacher education in Computer Science and Making. InfyPathfinders will be an intensive week of professional development to be held at Indiana University Bloomington (IUB) from July 15-20, 2018. Over 800 teachers from across the United States will convene on the IUB campus for high-quality, hands-on training for K-12 grade level Computer Science (CS) and Maker education. Interested teachers and school administrators can find out more and register their interest at: infy.com/Pathfinders

What does it really mean to prepare students for a future in coding careers? Clive Thompson, a freelance writer for Wired and The New York Times magazine, thinks the reality is not as rosy as many people think. In a popular Wired article titled, The Next Big Blue-Collar Job is Coding, Thompson criticizes pop culture and some writers, like himself, for overly romanticizing the notion of the 'lone genius coder'- the Mark Zuckerbergs and Mr. Robots of the world- saying that's not what every coder looks like and that's not what many coders will be. Thompson recently talked with EdSurge about the future of programming work in the United States and the realities students will face in their future job searches. The conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity. Listen to a complete version of the interviews below, or on your favorite podcast app (like iTunes or Stitcher).

At an event hosted by Code.org to kick off Computer Science Education Week, 8 states, 76 school districts, and 102 organizations worldwide made new pledges to expand access to computer science for millions of students, focusing on diversity. The news was announced and celebrated by some of the most powerful women in technology, including Melinda Gates, Peggy Johnson of Microsoft, Sheryl Sandberg, and Susan Wojcicki, as well as Governors Steve Bullock of Montana, Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, Eric Holcombof Indiana, and Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom of California. Code.org also announced a new milestone of 10 million girls with student accounts on its learning platform and $12 million in new philanthropic funding from donors including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Infosys Foundation USA, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Here's a depressing number for you: 12. Just 12 percent of engineers in the United States are women. In computing it's a bit better, where women make up 26 percent of the workforce-but that number has actually fallen from 35 percent in 1990. The United States has a serious problem with getting women into STEM jobs and keeping them there. Silicon Valley and other employers bear the most responsibility for that: Discrimination, both overt and subtle, works to keep women out of the workforce. But this society of ours also perpetuates gender stereotypes, which parents pass on to their kids. Like the one that says boys enjoy building things more than girls. There's no single solution to such a daunting problem, but here's an unlikely one: robots. Not robots enforcing diversity in the workplace, not robots doing all the work and obviating the concept of gender entirely, but robots getting more girls interested in STEM. Specifically, robot kits for kids-simple yet powerful toys for teaching youngsters how to engineer and code.

NCWIT Pacesetters is a unique, fast-track program in which committed corporate, startup, and university leaders work across boundaries to accelerate their organizations' number of technical women.

The L'Oreal USA For Women in Science fellowship program awards five women postdoctoral scientists annually with grants of $60,000 each for their contributions in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields and commitment to serving as role models for younger generations. The program is the U.S. component of the L'Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Fellowships program. Celebrating its fourteenth year in the U.S., the For Women in Science program has awarded 70 postdoctoral women scientists over $3.5 million in grants. L'Oreal USA partners with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to manage the program's application and peer-review process. Each year, the program attracts talented applicants from diverse STEM fields, representing some of the nation's leading academic institutions and laboratories.The 2018 L'Oreal USA for Women in Science application period will open December 4th, 2017 and will close on February 2nd, 2018.

The main focus is to truly create a sense of community and offer engagement for all experience levels, diversity groups, and tech professionals, combining the benefits of our regional ACT-W Conferences to open it up to our thousands of ChickTech members! All proceeds from the first annual ACT-W National Conference go towards providing STEM education programs to local high school girls and expanding the global ChickTech network to truly impact the reach of women in tech!