BOULDER, Colo., March 4, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) have selected 35 female high-school students as winners of the NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing, an award designed to increase the number of women pursuing careers in computing and technology.
The 35 national winners were selected from among more than 1,800 applicants representing all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and overseas military bases. Each Award-winner will receive $500 cash, a laptop computer, an engraved award both for her and her school, and mentoring opportunities with Bank of America employees. The young women will be honored at a Bank of America Technology Stars of the Future Showcase & Awards Ceremony on March 9, 2013, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"This award is building a pipeline of young women eager to contribute their talent and innovation to the technology workforce," said Debbie Guild, Bank of America Enterprise Chief Technology Officer and End User Computing executive. "The future of technology is a future where women are fully represented on the teams creating technical solutions for Bank of America clients, with diverse solutions for diverse consumers."
Women are disproportionally under-represented in computing fields, despite their advances in academia and the workforce: although they comprise 56% of all Advanced Placement (AP) test-takers and earn 57% of all bachelor's degrees, women represent just 19 percent of all AP Computer Science test-takers and account for only 18% of bachelor's degrees in computing.
The Award for Aspirations in Computing is part of an NCWIT talent development program that encourages young women to pursue and succeed in technology, by providing them with visibility, community, leadership opportunities, support, research experiences, scholarships, and internships. Since 2007, the Award for Aspirations in Computing has recognized more than 1,500 young women; more than 88% of the award recipients currently in college report majoring in a male-dominated STEM field.
"With the Department of Labor predicting 1.4 million computing jobs in the U.S. workforce by 2020, it's critical that we capitalize on the talent in the other 50% of our population," said Lucy Sanders, CEO and Co-founder of NCWIT. "Bank of America's support for the Award assures young women that their skills are valued, and sets them on the path to a career in technology."
Following are the winners of the national 2013 NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing:
- Charell Adagala: Silver Spring, Maryland, Springbrook High School
- Sarah Aladetan: Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, Park Center Senior High School
- Taylor Andrews: Louisville, Colorado, Monarch High School
- Alicia Bishop: Brandon, Florida, Middleton High School
- Allison Collier: Fredericksburg, Virginia, Massaponax High School
- Royce Cook: North Augusta, South Carolina, North Augusta High School
- Calista Frederick-Jaskiewicz: Wexford, Pennsylvania, Western Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School
- Noa Glaser: San Diego, California, Torrey Pines High School
- Krista Holden: Bremerton, Washington, Central Kitsap High School
- Keva Howe: Belen, New Mexico, School of Dreams Academy
- Janae Hoyle: Powder Springs, Georgia, Wheeler High School
- Aneesha Kommineni: Austin, Texas, Westwood High School
- Kristen Law: West Bloomfield, Michigan, Bloomfield Hills Andover High School
- Hui Shi Li: San Francisco, California, Balboa High School
- Melanie Llanos: Greensboro, North Carolina, Philip J. Weaver Education Center
- Savannah Loberger: Hillsboro, Oregon, Hillsboro High School
- Svetlana Marhefka: Westfield, New Jersey, Mount Saint Mary Academy
- Karen Miller: Cedar City, Utah, Success Academy
- Jiwon Park: Fort Wayne, Indiana, Homestead Senior High School
- Vanessa Pena: Altamonte Springs, Florida, Lake Brantley High School
- Catherine Pollock: Reno, Nevada, Damonte Ranch High School
- Crystal Qian: Overland Park, Kansas, Blue Valley Northwest High School
- Kendall Ronzano: Santa Cruz, California, York School
- Camille Rucker: Exeter, New Hampshire, Phillips Exeter Academy
- Reinie Thomas: Portage, Michigan, Kalamazoo Area Math and Science Center
- Sarah Tortorici: Brooklyn, New York, Hunter College High School
- Chinedum Uche: West Hartford, Connecticut, Greater Hartford Academy of Math and Science
- Madeleyne Vaca: Stone Mountain, Georgia, Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology
- Kara Vaillancourt: Hamilton, Virginia, Loudoun Valley High School
- Abril Vela: Chicago, Illinois, Northside College Preparatory High School
- Lavanyadevi Venkatesan: Sugar Land, Texas, Clements High School
- Sravya Vishnubhatla: Louisville, Kentucky, Dupont Manual High School
- Veronica Wharton: Lexington, Massachusetts, Lexington High School
- Lauryn Woodyard: New Albany, Ohio, New Albany High School
- Sarah Zelley: Cambridge, Vermont, Essex Junction Regional Tech Center
About the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT)
NCWIT is a non-profit community of change leaders working to increase women's participation in computing and technology. NCWIT helps organizations more effectively recruit, retain, and advance girls and women in K-12 through college education, and from academic to corporate and startup careers. NCWIT is supported by the National Science Foundation, Microsoft, Bank of America, Avaya, Pfizer, Merck, Turner, AT&T, Bloomberg, EMC, Google, Motorola, Qualcomm, Intel, HP, Symantec, and more than 350 universities, companies, non-profits, and government organizations nationwide. Find out more at http://www.ncwit.org.
The NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=17407
About Bank of America
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. Bank of America is a global leader in corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world, serving clients through operations in more than 40 countries. http://www.bankofamerica.com.