II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1968 

To direct the National Science Foundation to award grants to encourage 

young girls to participate in computer science and other STEM activities, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 17, 2017 

Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself and Mrs. CAPITO) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To direct the National Science Foundation to award grants 

to encourage young girls to participate in computer 

science and other STEM activities, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Code Like a Girl Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 The Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) Growth in the STEM workforce is domi8 nated by new computing jobs, and the Nation needs 


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1 to leverage all of its human capital to meet the de2 mand. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that, 

3 of all the new STEM occupations created from 2014 

to 2024, nearly 2 4 ⁄3 will be computing jobs. 

5 (2) More work is needed to ensure women are 

6 equally represented in the computer science work7 force. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 

8 in 2016, women held more than 51 percent of all 

9 professional occupations in the United States, but 

10 only 26 percent of the computing-related occupa11 tions. This is compared with the all-time peak of 26 

12 percent of the computing-related occupations in 

13 1991. 

14 (3) The gender disparity in computer science 

15 extends down through all levels of education. In 

16 2016, only 23 percent of AP Computer Science 

17 exam takers were female. The number of computer 

18 science degrees awarded to women has steadily de19 clined for bachelor’s degree earners from 29 percent 

20 in 1995 to just 18 percent in 2014. 

21 (4) A 2010 study funded by the National 

22 Science Foundation found that a majority of both 

23 women and men scientists and Ph.D. students be24 came interested in science before middle school. 

25 Women scientists in this study were more likely than 


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1 men to mention teachers as the source of their ini2 tial interest in science, substantiating the need for 

3 teachers to engage young girls in the classroom. 

4 (5) Gender disparities are also observed at the 

5 earliest levels of education. Studies have shown that, 

6 at around 6 years old, girls develop the belief that 

7 brilliance is a male characteristic. This negative 

8 stereotype, once adopted, is shown to have an imme9 diate effect, as girls start to lose interest in activities 

10 they perceive as requiring brilliance. 

11 (6) Research into the cause of the early adop12 tion of this stereotype is limited, but implicit biases 

13 held by teachers have been shown to have a negative 

14 impact on girls’ academic achievement in math and 

15 science and on their future decisions to enroll in ad16 vanced courses in these subjects. 

17 (7) While significant work is being done to ex18 pand access to high-quality computer science edu19 cation for female students at the secondary and 

20 postsecondary level, there are few research funding 

21 opportunities focused exclusively on girls in early 

22 childhood education. 

23 (8) Despite the limited attention being paid to 

24 this age group, research has shown that interven25 tions with girls at an early age can reduce the negaVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Oct 18, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1968.IS S1968

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1 tive impact of gendered stereotypes. Scientists have 

2 found that positive experiences with robotics and 

3 computing lead to greater interest and self-con4 fidence among girls, even after gender stereotypes 

5 about computing have been adopted. 

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

9 the Director of the National Science Foundation. 

10 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

11 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

12 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

13 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

14 (3) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

15 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

16 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec17 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801), ex18 cept that such term also includes preschools, after19 school programs, and summer programs. 

20 (4) STEM.—The term ‘‘STEM’’ means science, 

21 technology, engineering, and mathematics, including 

22 computer science. 

23 (5) YOUNG GIRLS.—The term ‘‘young girls’’ 

24 means female individuals who have not attained the 

25 age of 11. 


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1 SEC. 4. RESEARCH GRANTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall award grants 

3 on a competitive basis to institutions of higher education, 

4 local educational agencies, or nonprofit organizations (or 

5 consortia of such institutions, agencies, or organizations), 

6 to accelerate research efforts to increase understanding of 

7 the factors that contribute to the willingness or unwilling8 ness of young girls to participate in STEM activities. 

9 (b) RESEARCH AREAS.—Research areas funded by a 

10 grant under this section may include— 

11 (1) the role of teacher training and professional 

12 development, including effective incentive structures 

13 to encourage teachers to participate in such training 

14 and professional development, in encouraging or dis15 couraging young girls from participating in STEM 

16 activities; 

17 (2) the role of implicit bias in the classroom in 

18 shaping young girls’ perceptions of STEM and dis19 couraging such girls from participating in STEM ac20 tivities; 

21 (3) the role of other facets of the learning envi22 ronment on the willingness of young girls to partici23 pate in STEM activities, including learning mate24 rials and textbooks, classroom decorations, seating 

25 arrangements, use of media and technology, classVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Oct 18, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1968.IS S1968

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1 room culture, and gender composition of students 

2 during group work; 

3 (4) the role of parents and other caregivers in 

4 encouraging or discouraging young girls from par5 ticipating in STEM activities; 

6 (5) the types of STEM activities that encourage 

7 greater participation by young girls; and 

8 (6) any other activity the Director determines 

9 will accomplish the goals of this section. 

10 (c) GRANT RECIPIENT REPORT.—An entity awarded 

11 a grant under this section shall report to the Director, 

12 at such time and in such manner as the Director may re13 quire, on the activities carried out and materials developed 

14 using such grant funds. 

15 SEC. 5. DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OF SCALABLE MOD16 ELS FOR INCREASED ENGAGEMENT. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall award grants 

18 on a competitive basis, to institutions of higher education 

19 or nonprofit organizations (or consortia of such institu20 tions or organizations), to develop and evaluate interven21 tions in pre-K and elementary school classrooms that seek 

22 to increase participation of young girls in computer 

23 science activities. 

24 (b) PARTNERSHIPS.—In order to be eligible to receive 

25 a grant under this section, an institution of higher eduVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Oct 18, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1968.IS S1968

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1 cation, nonprofit organization, or consortium shall enter 

2 into a partnership with one or more local educational 

3 agencies in carrying out the activities funded by such 

4 grant. 

5 (c) USES OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under this 

6 section shall be used for activities that draw upon the ex7 pertise of the partner entities described in subsection (b) 

8 to increase participation of young girls in computer 

9 science activities, including— 

10 (1) offering training and professional develop11 ment programs, including summer or academic year 

12 institutes or workshops, designed to strengthen the 

13 capabilities of pre-K and elementary school teachers 

14 and to familiarize such teachers with the role of gen15 der bias in the classroom; 

16 (2) offering innovative pre-service and in-service 

17 programs that instruct teachers on gender-inclusive 

18 practices for teaching computing concepts; 

19 (3) developing distance learning programs for 

20 teachers or students, including developing curricular 

21 materials, play-based computing activities, and other 

22 resources for the in-service professional development 

23 of teachers that are made available to teachers 

24 through the internet; 


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1 (4) developing a cadre of master teachers who 

2 will promote reform and the adoption of gender-in3 clusive practices in teaching computer science con4 cepts in early childhood education; 

5 (5) developing tools to evaluate activities con6 ducted under this section; 

7 (6) developing or adapting pre-K and elemen8 tary school computer science curricular materials 

9 that incorporate contemporary research on the 

10 science of learning, particularly with respect to gen11 der inclusion; 

12 (7) developing and offering gender-inclusive 

13 computer science enrichment programs for students, 

14 including after-school and summer programs; 

15 (8) providing mentors for girls in person and 

16 through the internet to support such girls in partici17 pating in computer science activities; 

18 (9) educating the parents of girls about the dif19 ficulties faced by girls to maintain an interest and 

20 desire to participate in computer science activities, 

21 and enlisting the help of parents in overcoming these 

22 difficulties; 

23 (10) acquainting girls with careers in computer 

24 science and encouraging girls to consider careers in 

25 such field; and 


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1 (11) any other activities the Director deter2 mines will accomplish the goals of this section. 

3 (d) GRANT RECIPIENT REPORT.—An entity awarded 

4 a grant under this section shall report to the Director, 

5 at such time and in such manner as the Director may re6 quire, on the activities carried out and materials developed 

7 using such grant funds. 

8 (e) EVALUATION REQUIRED.—Not later than 4 years 

9 after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 3 years 

10 thereafter, the Director shall evaluate the grant program 

11 under this section. At a minimum, such evaluation shall— 

12 (1) use a common set of benchmarks and as13 sessment tools to identify best practices and mate14 rials developed and demonstrated by the partner15 ships described in subsection (b); and 

16 (2) to the extent practicable, compare the effec17 tiveness of practices and materials developed and 

18 demonstrated by such partnerships with those of 

19 partnerships funded by other local or State govern20 ment or Federal Government programs. 

21 (f) DISSEMINATION OF RESULTS.— 

22 (1) EVALUATION RESULTS.—The Director shall 

23 make publicly available free of charge on an internet 

24 website and shall submit to Congress the results of 

25 the evaluation required under subsection (e). 


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1 (2) MATERIALS.—The Director shall ensure 

2 that materials developed under a program funded by 

3 a grant under this section, that are demonstrated to 

4 be effective in achieving the goals of this section (as 

5 determined by the Director), are made publicly avail6 able free of charge on an internet website, including 

7 through an arrangement with an outside entity. 

8 (g) ANNUAL MEETING.—The Director shall convene 

9 an annual meeting of the partnerships participating in a 

10 program funded by a grant under this section, for the pur11 pose of fostering greater national collaboration. 

12 (h) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—At the request of a 

13 partnership seeking a grant under this section, the Direc14 tor shall provide the partnership with technical assistance 

15 in meeting any requirement of this section, including pro16 viding advice from experts on how to develop a quality ap17 plication for such a grant. 

18 SEC. 6. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

19 (a) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Director shall submit to 

20 Congress an annual report on the grant programs estab21 lished by sections 4 and 5. 

22 (b) REPORT ON PROGRAM EXPANSION.—Not later 

23 than 4 years after the first grant is awarded under the 

24 grant programs established by sections 4 and 5, the Direc25 tor shall submit to Congress a report, based on an analysis 


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1 of the grant recipient reports submitted to the Director 

2 pursuant to sections 4(c) and 5(d), that includes a rec3 ommendation for how to expand such grant programs. 

Æ 


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