In the United States, 74% of girls and teen girls express interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) in middle school, but only 0.4% of teen girls end up planning to major in Computer Science. In 1984, 37% of all computer science graduates were women, but now that’s reduced to just 18%. The gender gap continues to grow in one of the fastest growing and ground-breaking industries in the world, but we’re determined to stop that. The Girl Code strives to bring the joy of coding to everyone, regardless of gender, age, economical status, or whatever anyone else thinks is holding them back. Whether it’s through active encouragement or just setting an example through our own trail-blazing, The Girl Code seeks to empower girls and let them know that yes, they can. They can code, they can create, and they can do whatever they want, whether that’s becoming the first female president, the CEO of their own tech company, an astronaut at NASA or just a bad-ass woman in general. While we’ve spent most of our time pursuing our own projects, we are working to help other female coders, collaborating in fantastic groups of four, attending hackathons and building apps, just like us. We’re currently building tutorials and connecting students with professionals and events in the field of computer science and computer programming.
Ananya Bhat, a senior at Monta Vista High School, is a passionate feminist, designer, journalist and coder. She loves to play the ukulele, obsess over typography, and hang out with friends and family. She is also the editor-in-chief for her school newsmagazine, El Estoque. She plans to spend her next four years at Carnegie Mellon University, majoring in Information Systems.
Aastha Chawla, a senior at Monta Vista High School, is passionate about learning and teaching. She loves music, dancing, swimming, watching movies and spending time with family and friends. She was introduced to the world of coding by her older brother, and is fascinated by its boundless opportunities to create and innovate.
Aditi Gnanasekar is a senior at Monta Vista High School. She likes to read science-fiction novels, skim through the monthly “Popular Science” magazines, sing, swim, follow professional basketball (faithful Warriors fan since 2007’s ‘We Believe’ season), volunteer, and hang out with her friends. She is also a part of the school research club and debate team.
Anisha Kollareddy, a senior at Monta Vista High School, likes to play piano, write music, listen to songs, and desperately try to sing. Her love of connecting with people and helping them brought her to volunteer with a political campaign, and also introduced her to the world of coding.