I decided that we needed to do a Girls Who Code club.
There are tons of articles in which they describe how there are far fewer women getting computer science degrees vs men, even though the need for people with those degrees has gone up. In this NPR article, Colleges Have Increased Women Computer Science Majors: What Can Google Learn? they discuss how one college changed things around to make women feel more comfortable in the program. So now, that one college is at about 50/50 with women/men, unlike many other colleges which are 20/80 women/men. With increasing job needs, we need more people, and women have lots to offer.
Then I listened to this episode of the NPR podcast Hidden Brain. The Edge of Gender. In it there was an interesting discussion based on a personal memo sent out by a Google employee on how women and men are inherently different and therefor it makes sense that there are so much less women in computer science.
How does that make you feel ladies? I know that there are differences between men and women and how they react to different situations, but each person could be useful no matter their gender.
This is a VERY long-winded way of saying that we really need to find a place where girls are comfortable coding and using computers without feeling insecure around the guys. Which is why I am doing this program.
I will let you know that my knowledge of coding is very limited. I know bits and pieces, but that's it. Plus I'm making Miss Jill and her daughter Laura participate in this (I know, you're surprised, aren't you?) and they claim to know even less.
This is my way of saying that we will learn together. We can teach each other together and become stronger people because of it.
So, if you are a girl between 10-16 and are available the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays at 6pm. I expect to see you there. There's a ton we can learn together. I just know it.