Young Women in Computing: Creating a successful and sustainable pipeline

Young Women in Computing (YWiC) is an outreach initiative housed in the Department of Computer Science at New Mexico State University (NMSU). The program is designed to increase the number of women introduced to computer science; promote the role and presence of women in the field of computing; improve the retention of female students in computing programs; establish a permanent infrastructure (i.e., pipeline) to promote the participation of women, especially of Hispanic heritage, in computing activities; and, serve as a model of effective computer science outreach practices to reach young women. Since 2006, YWiC programming has reached over 10,200 students. By enhancing interest in computing among student populations, YWiC has successfully created a pipeline into Computer Science and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM-C) undergraduate programs, particularly at NMSU; among the 366 non-repeated summer campers, 99% of the 98 high school graduates attended college in the fall term immediately following their graduation, with 61% declaring a major in a STEM-C field. This paper will present quality practices and lessons that YWiC has learned in order to become a successful and sustainable outreach program in southern New Mexico.