What would be the best way to spend a memorable Summer in Santa Barbara? Ocean, beaches, sunshine, and what? 

UCSB computer science teaching faculty Diba Mirza is now hosting a coding camp with Dos Pueblos High this Summer. 

According to this news article by Santa Barbara Independent, for two weeks in July, 25 female students going into grades 5-11 took the STEM-intensive summer course hosted by representatives of UC Santa Barbara’s computer science program and Dos Pueblos High School’s Engineering Academy.

In a more depth coverage by local news agency Noozhawk, it is noted that one of the main goals of this program is to Inspires Girls to Pursue STEM Fields Students program robots, learn 3-D modeling and embrace the fundamentals of coding at Dos Pueblos High School. 

"Women are underrepresented in computer science, but this has not been the case historically", Mirza said to Noozhawk.

"The number steadily dropped as home computers became more common and computer science was largely marketed to boys," Mirza said. "The gender disparity we see today has historical reasons."

In her interview, Dr. Mirza said that teaching coding programs at local high school was a great way to encourage young girls to pursue a career in STEM and computer science.