Communications of the ACM
Aiming For 1 Million 'girls Who Code'
Students from Democracy Prep High School in Harlem participate in one of the more than 150 Girls Who Code clubs in the United States.
Credit: CBS News
Women are the majority in the workforce, in college, and as income earners, but they are being left out of innovating, says Reshma Saujani, who wants to introduce coding to more than 1 million girls over the next decade. She says it is still acceptable in society for girls to say they hate math at a time when technology is critical to everything that is created or built. Saujani is the founder of Girls Who Code, which has more than 150 clubs across the country teaching girls robotics, Web design, and mobile development.
"What makes it interesting is, like, you are the one creating the game now, you're not just sitting there playing the game," says 17-year-old Aisha Soumaoro, who is enrolled in the club at Democracy Prep High School in Harlem. Saujani says technology has to be cool and work has to be fun for things to change. Girls Who Code already has nearly 3,000 alumni nationwide, and has attracted support from companies such as Facebook and Twitter.
Saujani says she is still waiting on that "eureka moment" that will inspire girls to become more active participants in shaping a digital world. An estimated 1.4 million job openings are expected for computer specialists by 2010.
From CBS News
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