About

According to ComputerScience.org, “only 20% of computer science professionals are women… [and] a study by Deloitte found that women's choices account for up to 85% of buying decisions nationwide, and that diversity drives innovation.” This is the very principle our STEM and Digital Literacy project is built upon. Given how few girls are enrolled at the computer science classes at our school, we want to promote an interest and enthusiasm for programming and computer science, raise awareness of potential future opportunities at the high school/college levels and of careers in computer science, provide beneficial educational resources, and foster a friendly environment conducive to growth and learning. Our goal is to fight the gender disparity in computer science by offering opportunities for middle school girls to explore the field in a female-led environment.

We plan to continue our mission through specialized informational sessions/presentations, hosting guest speakers, and scheduling workshops catered to the girls at our local middle schools. The American Association of University Women says we can move past these trends and stigma against #womeninSTEM if “educators and parents… work together to help girls maintain their confidence and curiosity in STEM subjects… [by] creat[ing] a more inclusive workplace.” At GirlsCode, the name of our GirlsBuild initiative, we take it up a notch. While we might not be programming professionals, we are young adults, and we believe that that is what makes our project so accommodating and comfortable for our attending students. Our officers and students have learned so much from each other and we hope that we have made the experience easy and informative. Our team is extremely involved in our community. Besides our current GirlsBuild project, some service projects we have done in the past include refurbishing computers at Free I.T. Athens and helping senior citizens at a senior living facility become conversant with technology. Many of our members are also involved in Beta Club, National Honors Society, and Leo Club.

One short term impact we can expect from our program is higher enrollment in computer science classes at our high school, and maybe even getting the opportunity to pass on the torch to former GirlsCode students! Our project’s short term impacts have already begun with former GirlsCode students as officers on our team and current GirlsCode students already expressing interest in certain course offerings at our high school.

The long term impact we hope to see is having more female computer science undergraduates, workplaces where females don’t feel undermined or unrepresented (not just in STEM fields), and a cultural shift in mindset of those who believe otherwise. Many former GirlsCode officers have gone on to pursue careers in computing and engineering, which some of them believe they owe solely to GirlsCode. We know our project is just a small part of the process, but you have to start small to do something big!