Forest Hills School Wins Computer Science Female Diversity Award

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — A Forest Hills prep school is among just over 1,100 high schools in the United States that have won recognition from the College Board for achieving equal gender representation in advanced-placement computer science classes.

Queens Metropolitan High School received the 2020 AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award for achieving equal gender representation among its students taking the exam in AP computer science principles, the College Board announced Monday.

Other Central Queens high schools that won the award include Queens Gateway Health and Sciences Secondary School and Townsend Harris High School.

“Young women deserve an equal opportunity to become the next generation of entrepreneurs, engineers, and tech leaders," Stefanie Sanford, the College Board's chief of Global Policy and External Relations, said in a statement. "Closing the gap in computer science education empowers young women to build the future they want.”

Women are under-represented in the computer science industry, making up just 24 percent of the 5 million people who work in computing occupations, the College Board said in a news release, citing an analysis of 2017 Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

According to College Board research, girls who take AP computer science principles in high school are more than five times likelier to major in computer science in college.

Female students make up just a third of those taking AP computer science principles, the College Board says.

The course debuted in the 2016-2017 school year.