“CODE: Debugging The Gender Gap,” a free movie screening and panel discussion, will take place on Thur. Oct. 6, 7 p.m., Morristown High School in Morristown.  This program, made possible by a grant from the Morris Educational Foundation, explores the gender disparity in STEM-related fields and looks to promote these fields among young women in the community.

Four successful women working in STEM fields will participate in a panel discussion after the screening. Rachel Kim a Civil Engineer at Moretrench, Beth Krawczuk and Internet Application Developer at LabCorp, Adebisi Oje an Application Developer at Microsoft and the Founder and CEO africode.org, and Deb Takash the Database Developer at StayinFront will provide insight and answer audience questions.

The percentage of women entering engineering has remained stagnant over the past 30 years, and the number of women entering programming has gone down. The Morristown High School (MHS) STEM Academy works to change this statistic, by supporting and promoting girls and young women in STEM careers such as engineering and programming.  Beyond this event, MHS STEM supports all-girls engineering classes, unique experiences where girls can see STEM in action, and a Girls Who Code club.

“We are engaging a number of enthusiastic young women through the MHS Engineering Club, where we hope to spark their interest as well as support and validate them, “ said Mariel Kolker, Morristown High School Physics, Engineering, and Nanoscience teacher. “Often, I find that simply naming the problem helps to disempower it. When girls learn about implicit bias and stereotype threat, they see the world differently.  They become empowered.”

The entire community is encouraged to attend and participate in the event.

The documentary exposes the dearth of American female and minority software engineers and explores the reasons for this gender gap and digital divide. The film highlights breakthrough efforts that are producing more diverse programmers and shows how this critical gap can be closed. What would society gain from having more women and minorities code and how do we get there?

For information on this event, contact mariel.kolker@msdk12.net.

The Morris Educational Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) that seeks to attract private resources to support a variety of educational programs and initiatives in support of the Morris School District. Through effective solicitation and distribution of funds, the Morris Educational Foundation helps enable the District to continue to be the model of visionary social and educational leadership it has been since its inception.  For more information, visit the website at www.morrisedfoundation.org.