“In middle school, 74% of girls express interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), but when choosing a college major, just 0.4% of high school girls select computer science.” As stated in the Girls Who Code website.
Girls Who Code is a non-profit organization that believes in the importance of closing the gender gap in technology. They aim to inspire girls to pursue computer science. They engage web developers, engineers, executives and entrepreneurs to teach and empower the next generation.
GineersNow interviewed Emily Reid, the Director of Education at Girls Who Code.
THE PERSON
GineersNow: Introduce yourself.
Emily: My name is Emily Reid and I am the Director of Education at Girls Who Code. I grew up in Wallingford, CT, a small town about halfway between Boston and NYC.
GN: How many years have you been working in your industry (tech, engineering, education)?
Emily: I’ve been in the tech industry for over 7 years. I started my career as a cyber-security engineer at the MITRE Corporation, where I create courses on our security technology and developed a strong interest in education. I moved on to get a Masters in Computer Science at Columbia University while working at CU’s Teacher’s College, where I discovered Girls Who Code. I have been a full-time director at Girls Who Code for about year and a half.
GN: Tell us some personal stories that engineers will like to hear.
Emily: I was definitely not your typical tech geek growing up. I loved math and science, but I was also choir and theater geek. I was not the kid pulling apart computers and putting them back together. I ended up finding computer science and programming when I was in college, and it was an unlikely lesson that really hooked me: my first theoretical lecture on the Church-Turing thesis and lambda calculi.
THE PROJECT
GN: What is Girls Who Code?
Emily: Girls Who Code is a national nonprofit organization working to close the gender gap in the technology and engineering sectors. With support from public and private partners, Girls Who Code works to educate, inspire, and equip middle & high school girls with the skills and resources to pursue opportunities in computing fields.
GN: How did the concept start? Describe the “Aha!” experience
Emily: Our founder and CEO, Reshma Saujani, was running for Congress in 2011. She’d constantly visit schools and see classrooms of boys learning to code with the hope of being the next Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg, but she rarely saw girls in those classrooms. Her question “Where are all the girls?” became an obsession that lead her to start Girls Who Code.
GN: Describe your journey with the company.
Emily: I got started with Girls Who Code as a Summer Immersion Program teacher when I was finishing my Masters in Computer Science. It was a life-changing experience. The change that I saw in my class of 20 high school students over seven weeks, in terms of their confidence and their technical ability, was a change that personally took me years. As an Education Director, the biggest challenge in my role has been to create a curriculum that is scalable and accessible, and to build a team of amazing CS educators as the organization grows.
GN: Why do women need coding?
Emily: It’s not just women who need to learn how to code; everyone should learn to code. Using technology everyday but not being able to code is like being able to read but not able to write.
GN: How big is the social impact?
Emily: We have 10,000 alumni of our Summer Immersion and Clubs Programs. 90% of our Summer Immersion Program alumni have declared a major in computer science or a related discipline, and 77% had a different intended path before Girls Who Code. This is significant because the U.S. Department of Labor projects that by 2020, there will be 1.4 million computer specialist job openings. Currently, US universities are expected to produce enough graduates to fill 29% of those jobs.
GN: Are there other important topics that you want to share?
Emily: The White House recently announced its #CSForAll initiative, which is a program to give all students in our country the chance to learn CS in school. While this is a historic step, it’s not necessarily sufficient, as many girls and women in the computer science field choose not to stay because they feel isolated and unsupported in their pursuits. If we want girls to succeed in CS, we need to help them connect coding to their passions and create a support system of role models and mentors for them to keep at it.
THE COMPANY
GN: Are you an educational institution, social enterprise, non-profit or private company?
Emily: Girls Who Code is an education nonprofit organization with the support of public and private partners.
GN: How big is your company?
Emily: We have 45 full-time employees with offices in New York City and San Francisco.
GN: Describe your mission, vision and values.
Emily: Our goal is to debug the gender gap in technology and empower women to pursue their passions. Our vision is gender parity in computer science, period.
GN: Where is this company headed?
Emily: We are creating the largest pipeline of female engineers in the US with the hope of teaching 1 million girls to code by 2020. Our #HireMe campaign is a partnership with top US companies who have pledged to hire girls from our programs.
THE INDUSTRY
GN: Tell us about the recent changes, trends and forecast in your industry.
Emily: Barack Obama has called for $4 billion to be spent on computer science education in 2017. This is a historic event to ensure that the supply for careers in computer science and engineering are met. Now, more than ever, there’s a need for Girls Who Code. As access to computer science expands, we need more role models than ever.
ADVICE TO ALL THE GIRLS
GN: Please give advice and words of wisdom to our young global audience.
Emily: “I thought we were going to be paired up with people of similar abilities.” That was what my Intro to Computer Science lab partner, Gerald, said to me, 10 minutes into my first ever CS lab. This phrase has stuck in my head for over a decade. As a student with no CS background and a big dose of doubt and isolation in a class of 20 boys, these words crushed me. I almost walked out right then and there, leaving computer science and my jerk of a lab partner in the dust. Today, I am a computer scientist and the director of curriculum at Girls Who Code. If I had listened to Gerald ten years ago, or my own internal naysayer, I would never have been able to say that. Learning to code – or learning any profession – takes persistence. It won’t always be easy and people will constantly challenge you, especially if you’re good. When you have those moments of self-doubt and fear, remember that you’re not alone and by pushing forward you have the opportunity to become the role model that you wish you had.