Ruthe Farmer – National Center for Women & Information Technology – Open to the Public

Date November 5th, 2009

Time 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm

Location New York University - 719 Broadway Room 1221

Director of Strategic Initiatives

NCWIT is the National Center for Women & Information Technology. We are a coalition of more than 170 prominent corporations, academic institutions, government agencies, and non-profits working to increase women’s participation in information technology (IT). NCWIT is a 501(c)(3), established in 2004 with startup funding from the National Science Foundation, Avaya, Microsoft, Pfizer, Bank of America, Intel, HP, the Kauffman Foundation, and Qualcomm.

• Girls represented just 17 percent of Advanced Placement computer science (CS) exam-takers in 2008; that’s the lowest female representation of any AP exam.
• In 2008 women earned only 18 percent of all CS degrees. Back in 1985, women earned 37 percent of CS degrees.
• Women hold more than half of all professional occupations in the U.S. but fewer than 24 percent of all computing-related occupations.
• Only 16 percent of Fortune 500 technology companies have women corporate officers.
• A study on U.S. technology patenting reveals that patents created by mixed-gender teams are the most highly cited (an indicator of their innovation and usefulness); yet women were involved in only 9 percent of U.S. tech patents.

Since 2001, Ruthe Farmer has focused her efforts on increasing girls’ participation in STEM disciplines. She recently completed an MBA in Social Entrepreneurship & Marketing at the University of Oxford and is working on program initiatives, strategic planning and fund development at NCWIT.

In a previous position as the National Project Manager for Technology & Engineering Education for Girl Scouts of the USA, Ruthe designed and implemented national programs and partnerships to increase girls’ participation in STEM and managed the K-12 Informal Education Hub of the National Center for Women & IT. Ruthe brings a wealth of experience in informal education, national collaboration, and fund development.

Ruthe served on the NCWIT Leadership Team and as the co-chair of the NCWIT K-12 Alliance through 2007, she served on the National Girls Collaborative Project Champions Board, the FIRST Robotics Girls FIRST Advisory Board, and is a founding board member of Springboard Innovation, a nonprofit dedicated to incubating grass roots social entrepreneurs.