1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Code Like a Girl Act . 2. Findings The Congress finds the following: (1) Growth in the STEM workforce is dominated by new computing jobs, and the Nation needs to leverage all of its human capital to meet the demand. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that, of all the new STEM occupations created from 2014 to 2024, nearly two-thirds will be computing jobs. (2) More work is needed to ensure women are equally represented in the computer science workforce. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2016, women held more than 51 percent of all professional occupations in the United States, but only 26 percent of the computing-related occupations. This is compared with the all-time peak of 26 percent of the computing-related occupations in 1991. (3) The gender disparity in computer science extends down through all levels of education. In 2016, only 23 percent of AP Computer Science exam takers were female. The number of computer science degrees awarded to women has steadily declined for bachelor’s degree earners from 29 percent in 1995 to just 18 percent in 2014. (4) A 2010 study funded by the National Science Foundation found that a majority of both women and men scientists and Ph.D. students became interested in science before middle school. Women scientists in this study were more likely than men to mention teachers as the source of their initial interest in science, substantiating the need for teachers to engage young girls in the classroom. (5) Gender disparities are also observed at the earliest levels of education. Studies have shown that, at around six years old, girls develop the belief that brilliance is a male characteristic. This negative stereotype, once adopted, is shown to have an immediate effect, as girls start to lose interest in activities they perceive as requiring brilliance. (6) Research into the cause of the early adoption of this stereotype is limited, but implicit biases held by teachers have been shown to have a negative impact on girls’