10 M-DCPS High Schools Earn the College Board AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award

Ten Miami-Dade County public schools have been recognized with the College Board’s AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award for expanding young women’s access to Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science Principles (CSP).

The schools – Miami Jackson Senior High • Miami Springs Senior High • Design and Architecture Senior High • Barbara Goleman High • Booker T. Washington Senior High • Ronald W. Reagan Doral Senior High • Westland Hialeah Senior High • Medical Academy for Science and Technology at Homestead • Arthur and Polly Mays Grade Conservatory of the Arts • Young Women’s Preparatory Academy – have achieved either 50 percent or higher representation among female exam takers in one or two AP courses, or a percentage among female computer-science exam takers that meets or exceeds that of the school’s female population.  A total of 1,020 schools are being recognized for their work toward equal gender representation, with  760 schools receiving the award in the category of AP CSP. 

The first year of AP CSP in 2016-17 attracted more students than any other AP course debut and participation is on the rise. In 2021, more than 116,000 students took the AP CSP Exam—more than double the number of exam takers in the course’s first year. In 2021, 39,218 women took the AP CSP Exam, nearly three times the number who tested in 2017.

Computing jobs are the number one source of new wages in the U.S.; however, the 2017 Bureau of Labor Statistics finds women represent just 24 percent of the five million people in computing occupations. Providing female students with access to computer science courses is critical to ensure gender parity in the industry’s high-paying jobs and drive innovation, creativity, and representation. In May 2020, the median annual wage for computer and information technology occupations was $91,250.

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