With the glow of the computer screen reflecting in her eyes, Isabella King tapped a keyboard several times and pushed “enter.” She waited a moment, then the pensive expression on her face brightened as the results began to appear.
Beaming with pride, the Plymouth South High School sophomore said, “I can feel it! It’s starting to work!”
King had just made changes to her team’s computer networking project – a secure firewall – and was ecstatic over the effect. On Wednesday, she was one of 30 female students from Plymouth South and North high schools participating in the Digital Divas Technology Boot Camp.
Held at Plymouth South, the new program is designed to introduce young women to potential careers in the burgeoning fields of science, technology, engineering, and math, where women have historically been underrepresented. Developed by a team of professional women at Blue Mantis, an IT solutions company headquartered in Portsmouth, N.H., the Technology Boot Camp aims to bridge the STEM gender gap by providing female students with hands-on experience, coaching, mentoring, and insights from industry leaders, who volunteer as trainers.
“This is a feeder program we hope will teach young women to select careers in technology,” said Amy Guggina, customer success manager at Blue Mantis and a Plymouth resident. “We need women who want to do it. There aren’t many of us. More often than not, I’m one of just a couple of women at a meeting with 30 men.”
In addition to Blue Mantis, mentors from Fortinet, Milton CAT, and Climb Channel Solutions pitched in to make the boot camp a success.
According to the National Science Foundation, more than 30 million Americans work in STEM-related industries, though only about 35 percent of that workforce is female. Many of the positions feature lucrative pay, averaging more than twice as much as non-STEM jobs.
That fact attracted the attention of several Digital Diva students, including Wiktoria Cavanagh, a South senior. “I like it,” she said. “It’s cool. And it pays really well.”
At the Technology Boot Camp, the students were divided into small groups to tackle assignments related to cybersecurity. Each assumed responsibilities as a network or security engineer or user-experience director, working together to install and maintain a computer network for a business. They had to consider real-time issues, such as informing employees of network outages and planned upgrades, as well as identifying risks and vulnerabilities that could impact success.
“I’m very interested in STEM,” said Martina Marzullo, a Plymouth South junior. “My focus is on math. I really like it a lot, especially equations. I can see myself getting a job in computers.”
While participants were focused on solving technical issues related to computer networks, mentors were quick to point out that not all STEM positions require degrees in science or math. People of all backgrounds are needed in management, administration, employee resources, marketing, sales, communications and more.
“I’m interested in marketing,” said Ainsley Hall, a sophomore at Plymouth North High School. “It’s nice to know this is an aspect of work I could do behind the scenes.”
North’s Abby Toledo is also planning on a career in marketing. “I like the work and travel that comes with these jobs,” she said, then added, “I’m networking for the future right now.”
Maddie Chubb, a senior at South, has designs on becoming an insurance actuary after graduating college but is studying computer science and computer-aided design now because of its importance in the business world today.
“I plan to be a math major at Brown University next fall,” she said. “I really like computers, too. There’s a lot going on there.”
Ruby Garrett of South is focused on computer science and how it will help her with her goal of developing medical protheses for people with missing limbs.
“The coding part is important,” she said. “The more knowledge I have, the better. I like to help people and computers will enable me to do that.”
While education is important to success in technology and related fields, students have a range of options when it comes to attaining the knowledge and training they need for employment, according to Sarah Foote, chief marketing officer at Blue Mantis.
“There are many different avenues they can take to a STEM career path,” she said. “Students don’t need a four-year degree from a university. They can get certification from technical schools or other educational programs, then get a college degree later if they feel they need it.”
That fits with the plans of Isabella King, who is the only female in the electrical studies program at Plymouth South. She wants to become a journeyman electrician after high school, then get her master’s license.
“I want to go into the trades and start my own business,” she said. “This is good experience because I will need computers to help me run it.”
The boot camp was deemed a success by corporate sponsors, school administration, and students. The hope is to develop it into a regular activity while expanding the idea to other regions around New England and the country.
“The Digital Divas event was an extremely empowering and informational event for our female students interested in the field of technology,” said Patricia Fry, Plymouth South’s principal. “The students came away from the day raving about the experience and sharing that we should try to make this an annual event.”
Dave Kindy, a self-described history geek, is a longtime Plymouth resident who writes for the Washington Post, Boston Globe, National Geographic, Smithsonian and other publications. He can be reached at davidkindy1832@gmail.com.