High school receives Computer Science Female Diversity Award

Fox Chapel Area High School has earned the College Board Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science Female Diversity Award for achieving high female representation in AP Computer Science Principles. Schools honored with the AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award have expanded young women’s access in AP computer science courses and improved gender representation in computer science.

A total of 1,127 schools were acknowledged for their work toward equal gender representation in one of the two AP computer science courses. In 2023, Fox Chapel Area High School was one of 834 recognized in the category of AP Computer Science Principles.

“Computer science is the source code of our economy and much of the career landscape,” said Trevor Packer, head of the AP program. “In the six years since we began the AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award, it’s been heartening to see schools like Fox Chapel Area High School welcome so many more young women into this vital field.”

The first year of AP Computer Science Principles in 2016-17 attracted more students than any other AP course debut, and participation is on the rise. In 2023, 164,505 students took the AP Computer Science Principles Exam – more than triple the number of exam takers in the course’s first year. In 2023, 55,572 women took the AP Computer Science Principles Exam, more than four times the number who tested in 2017.