iSTEM Program for Girls Awarded $200K Matching Grant

The Peter Kiewit Foundation has awarded a challenge grant of $200,000 to the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) College of Information Science and Technology (IS&T)’s CodeCrush program - an immersion experience designed to introduce 8^th and 9^th grade girls to the innovative world of information technology (IT).

The funds, which will be awarded over the next three years, will be used to expand the program to twice a year and add a summer conference for CodeCrush alums, teachers, mentors and other stakeholders.

As part of this matching grant challenge, the University of Nebraska Foundation will work closely with IS&T to raise an additional $200,000 over the next three years in new contributions.

This winter, 205 students from 80 different communities in three different states (NE, IA, SD) applied for 40 spots. That’s nearly triple the number of applications from CodeCrush’s inaugural year in 2014.

In addition, 35 percent of this year’s class are from rural communities (towns of less than 2,500 people) and 45 percent report being in free and reduced lunch programs.

This winter’s CodeCrush will be held from Feb. 24 – 27. The summer CodeCrush conference and fall CodeCrush dates will be announced soon at https://codecrush.unomaha.edu/.

“The interest in CodeCrush shines a direct spotlight on the importance of diversifying the talent landscape in computing programs,” said Dr. Deepak Khazanchi, Associate Dean at the College of Information Science and Technology. “We are proud of what we have accomplished so far with CodeCrush, and are on track to becoming the largest iSTEM experience for girls in the region.

“We are grateful for the award of much needed funds from the Peter Kiewit Foundation and hope that Omaha organizations will help us in meeting PKF’s challenge of financially supporting and expanding CodeCrush, and IS&T’s other iSTEM programs, as we work to inspire more students to pursue IT careers.”

CodeCrush is part of IS&T’s Women in IT Initiative that is led by a community task force of IT leaders dedicated to finding actionable solutions to close the gender gap and meet the local and national workforce deficit in IT. More information on the initiative can be found at https://www.ist.unomaha.edu/women-in-it/.

“Awarding IS&T funds to help expand and support CodeCrush is an honor,” Wendy Boyer, senior program officer at the Peter Kiewit Foundation said. “I’m hopeful this award will help inspire additional Omaha organizations to support CodeCrush, and similar programs, financially.

“It is imperative that the Omaha community understands the importance of exposing students, and their teachers, to the various career opportunities available even before they reach high school, as it can impact the courses and programs they pursue in high school and beyond. We have an opportunity to inspire a diverse group of students to pursue IT and help close the talent gap; we hope the Omaha community will follow our lead.”

By the year 2020, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects there will be 4.2 million jobs in computing and IT in the United States alone. Despite the growth, the number of available qualified IT professionals continues to be low, and women comprise just 25 percent of all computing-related occupations in the United States. There’s also a common misconception among young students, particularly girls, that IT is inaccessible.

We have an opportunity to inspire a diverse group of students to pursue IT and help close the talent gap.