WASHINGTON — If students were exposed to STEM earlier in life, the nation’s cybersecurity could be improved, a U.S. Congresswoman said Thursday at a forum called “Defending The Web.”
“We need to make sure our schools have all the tools that they need so that students are getting a great education in science, technology, engineering, math,” said U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Washington).
Howard University President Wayne A.I. Frederick revealed that Howard University Middle School — which is located on the university’s campus — is up for the challenge and plans to add a STEM high school soon and revamp the middle school curriculum to focus more on skills that could help in the realm of cybersecurity. Ninety-five percent of students that enter the historically Black institution’s middle school go on to college, and 65% of those students study a major within STEM.
“The next step of what we’re going to do is to make sure they’re getting programming and coding skills at the middle school level,” Frederick said.
Frederick and Montgomery College President DeRionne Pollard both said their institutions help make the field of cybersecurity more diverse because their institutions attract traditionally underrepresented students, many of whom go on to study cybersecurity.
Frederick noted that Howard has “heavily invested around” in bringing diversity to STEM fields. He noted that the university partnered with Google to offer students a 12-week internship at the end of May called Howard West in order to promote STEM at Howard.
Asked about the need to encourage STEM in rural areas to increase diversity, DelBene noted that a school in Redmond, Wash., in her congressional district, has begun to train students in coding and technology. DelBene encourages mentorship for students in rural areas to prepare them for college and in the future.
