Girls Who Code

Gwc
Please meet the next generation of the tech world.  It is these lovely young women sitting in a room in Chelsea learning how to code, think big and become engineers. 

Reshma Saujani, who founded Girls Who Code is showing all of us how to make a difference in kids lives.  She is also running for NYC public advocate.  Her passion for getting girls interested in technology and reaching across the divide is impressive…and she is making a difference doing what she talks about.  In addition to the team is Kristen Titus, the executive director, who is smart, passionate and cares deeply about making a different in others lives. 

The program is to inspire young women, 13-17 learn the skills it takes to be successful in engineering and technology now and in the future. 

There is something reminiscent of MOUSE.  They are actually going to work with MOUSE but there is something exciting and disruptive about Girls Who Code just as MOUSE was in the mid-90's. 

I believe the message to these girls should be to take what they learned and do something with it.  Your knowledge of being able to code makes you special.  You now have a skill that will help you as you move forward in your lives.  Be it working in a large company or starting your own company (after college) that you should follow your heart, follow your passions and be confident in your abilities. The sky is the limit.

If this next group of girls can walk out feeling like they rule then there is no doubt you are looking at the next generation of young women in the tech world. 

 

 

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Comments (Archived):

  1. kirklove

    The word awesome is overused. That said, this is AWESOME.

    1. Gotham Gal

      definitely awesome

    2. Erin Newkirk

      What’s really AWESOME is that by learning code, these girls are being given a voice that could launch some pretty killer, girl-POV businesses. Love it!

    3. Mark Essel

      Right on Kirk. Dig seeing the next wave of hackers – they have so many weapons in their creative arsenals

  2. Mrs Chasing the Donkey

    Great message to girls.

  3. John Best

    I took both my eldest (14 this year) to a girls-who-code event run by @mcrgirlgeeks the weekend before last (I may have mentioned it before, apologies if I’m repeating myself). It was based around codecademy and the introduction to javascript. They both enjoyed and got a lot out of it.I can tell they enjoyed it because they’re looking at resources to make their own text-based adventure game. I knew they’d get a lot out of because I’d talked to them about what they were learning about computing in school, and it was how to use a particular piece of software. That terrified me. I’m really pro women in tech, and its a big thing in my family (my sister is a tech journalist who won a “woman in technology of the year” a while back). The idea of them being turned off computing because the extent of what they were being taught was looking at a single piece of software (which no doubt wouldn’t exist in that form by the time they exited formal education) is awful. Changing the ratio became more than a campaign I supported, it became a personal issue.

    1. Gotham Gal

      the curriculum around code needs to evolve. colleges have one course and then nothing to follow up. it must be fun and interactive. some are, some aren’t. hopefully as more people want to learn code there will be more shared success stories among teachers.

      1. John Best

        Agreed. I think a good deal of the teaching is reinforcing the image that its dry and uninteresting and creating a big gulf between casual use and a level of understanding.

  4. Guest

    Bravo! I was talking with another female CEO about this issue the other day and she said when a girl receives a B on a math exam she feels like she failed and goes on to find something she might succeed in. When a boy receieves a B on that same test, he thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room. I’m not sure if there is actual evidence of this, but in my experience it sounds spot on. I’m a huge fan of single sex education for girls, especially at this age. Hopefully these girls will gain the skills AND the confidence they need.

  5. johndodds

    Over her ein the UK my friend Emma has been running a similar non-profit for some years http://youngrewiredstate.org/ It’s beoming quite big and is gradually getting more girls involved, Interestingly she (as mother of two daughters) believes you have to get them coding befoe they’re 11 or they find other interests.

    1. Gotham Gal

      Age wise that makes sense. There have been many books written about how girls attitudes change in regards to their studies etc once they hit 12

      1. candice

        Is it so much that the girls change, or that they are pushed into other things, and told computers aren’t cool, or they aren’t for girls?Really early is really important. I did learn how to program at about 12, like the boys did, and was much better off — most of the girls I knew in college (CS majors) were learning programming in CS 120; I was taking upper-level classes freshman year.

        1. Gotham Gal

          i believe that girls tend to want to be engaged with boys. there are a bunch of socialists who have done some serious work around this topic. the girls no longer are the ones that raised their hands or knew the answers. educationally, i believe, if we championed boys and girls to work together on projects in computer science classes from the time they were young and continued through high school into college that there would not be as many gender issues that we see in later years. imho.

          1. candice

            > if we championed boys and girls to work together on projectsNow that sounds useful — not just from a CS standpoint.

  6. Kirsten Lambertsen

    Love it, love it, love it 🙂 Learning to code is like getting the keys to the kingdom. Everyone should have basic coding skills at this point.

    1. Gotham Gal

      keys to the kingdom. great line!

  7. brazil6

    Love your post today GG, many women under estimate their abilities especially in the engineering fields. Wish there was something like this in Paris!

  8. Ella Dyer

    This is brilliant and touches me in many ways; my four year-old granddaughter will have more opportunities (although she appears to be leaning towards being a chef! since her parents own a restaurant). We who run technology companies will have more opportunities to work with women (seems fitting in my fashion technology space).Thank you Reshma for Girls Who Code and Joanne for sharing such inspiring stories with us. Your blog is the one of the first things I read each morning (usually makes me hungry). Keep it up y’all!Ella,www.FashionAde.com

  9. aweissman

    “Please meet the next generation of the tech world” is a wonderful lead in to this essay

    1. Gotham Gal

      thanks andy!

  10. Darby McClintock

    I hope they take into consideration bringing to life the old Froogle. It’s such a big necessity these days for comparison shopping sites to evolve even more especially in Australia.