BMIT teacher receives AP award for women in computer technology

Megan Nyatawa received an award from the Advanced Placement program to honor her inclusivity of young women in the computer science program.  

Computer science has a long history of being a male dominated industry. Though jobs in computer science have been rapidly growing as technology advances, women only earn 18 percent of computer science bachelor’s degrees. 

 This may be because there are still negative connotations around women in the field. Women in computer science are still treated unfairly, as women only hold an estimated 25 percent of computer jobs and are paid six percent less than men with the same position. But Megan Nyatawa is changing the statistics by getting female students involved in computer science.  

Megan Nyatawa had never really considered teaching computer science. She began her career at Central as a business teacher.  

“My second year at Central, the teacher who taught web design transferred into a new position, and they asked me to take that over. I liked it a lot, so I actually enrolled in a master’s program for computer science education” Nyatawa said.  

Nyatawa noticed the gap in gender in computer science and technology. When Nyatawa was in high school, there was an obvious imbalance of male and female students in computer science. As a female teacher, she realized how important it was for her to bring more young women into computer science at an early age.  

“Even in middle school, and sometimes even elementary, the interest in young girls in STEM starts to wane. In middle school there are fewer girls enrolled in computer science classes, and in high school even less,” Nyatawa said. “This transitions into them not going into careers in computer science, and young girls not seeing other girls in classes they thought they could be in.” 

Nyatawa wants to create a future where there is an equal number of women in the technology world, and those women are treated with the same respect as men.  

“I don’t know that I have a lot of female role models in this field, because it is so limiting,” said Nyatawa.  

Nyatawa is honored to be given the AP Diversity in Computer Science award, but she knows that there is still lots of work to be done. For many years, it has been taught to young children that girls should not have a career in technology. A survey covered by the University of Washington found that 51 percent of children thought girls are less interested in computer science than boys. Nyatawa is ending this cycle by giving female students the resources and confidence they need to have a career in technology. Nyatawa is creating future role models that will show young women that girls belong in STEM.  

“It’s exciting, I liked that we are being recognized, but truthfully, the amount of females we have in are AP classes isn’t that great. It shows you how far we still have to go. We’ve made improvements, but it’s not anywhere near 50-50, which is representative of the general student population,” said Nyatawa.  

Nyatawa will continue to advocate for women in STEM, even after she is done teaching. Her students inspire her every day by stepping out of their comfort zones and taking a technology class that begins their career in computer science.  

“Try it out. If you see a class that interests you, just take the class, don’t worry about if it’s a career you can pursue. Try and find a female mentor who is doing the things that you want to do,” Nyatawa said. “There are so many females in STEM that don’t get the spotlight they deserve”.