Technology dominates this world. It is present in everyone’s lives, and usually constantly present in her hands. The technology field has become a very popular career path; for men, at least.
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, women constitute only 24 percent of the workforce in Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) careers. For a long time, there was no major organization that was attempting to bridge this gender gap. Fortunately, a non-profit organization has recently emerged and is doing an excellent job to encourage young girls to pursue STEM careers.
Girls Who Code has expanded to all 50 states after just five years. The mission of this company is to encourage young girls to go after careers in the technology field.
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This is why Girls Who Code targets girls in grades 6-12; this is usually when women are discouraged from pursuing technological careers. Statistics from the Girls Who Code website show that there are currently 40,000 girls a part of this program and that 65 percent of the girls in these clubs are considering pursuing technology careers.
There is a local Girls Who Code club in Kinnelon. The founder of this club is Caroline Balick, a sophomore at KHS. The Colt Chronicle recently caught up with Caroline and asked her to explain how participating in a Girls Who Code club has affected her views on computer programming.
“Before I started coding, I always perceived computer programming as a really difficult subject. Once I tried it, however, I realized that it’s actually very enjoyable!”
Emily Petrucelli, a sophomore and club member, stated, “Joining this club has introduced me to computer programming and taught me the fundamentals, so if I want to study it in the future I have a good foundation.”
Another member and sophomore Grace Goldberg provided her thoughts, as well. “It has really made me more enthusiastic about the computer science field and shown me that computer programming has many applications in the real world. I’ve learned about its real-world utilizations through some of our trips to Instagram and Twitter.”
