On the day of the event, GWC attendees joined members of the Google Women in Engineering (GWE) group along with several people from the University Programs team for an office tour, lunch in one of the cafes, a Q&A session with GWE career panelists, networking, and a discussion of the many technical career opportunities at Google. The Q&A session in particular highlighted the possibilities enabled by a career in technology. It also revealed that many of the GWE participants pursued CS or engineering because they enjoyed the experience of building something and seeing tangible results--Amy Schendel (Software Engineer) was influenced by her experience building a robot in her high school robotics club; Adriana Alltari (Systems Administrator, Corporate Engineering) was inspired by building a computer. The career panel was then broken down into smaller networking sessions and the conversations really came alive. Some of the girls inquired about opportunities at Google while in High School and the Computer Science Summer Institute (CSSI) program was mentioned.
GWC’s visit to Google showed that there are driven young women who aspire to pursue CS and engineering, and how access to a network of mentors can strengthen their interest and align them for success. On August 30, 2012, Girls Who Code wrapped up their inaugural eight-week program with a graduation ceremony and demo presentation that showcased the valuable technical experience the girls gained in addition to their personal growth.
The evening commenced with speeches from key individuals such as Beth Comstock, Chief Marketing Officer of General Electric, and the founder of GWC, Reshma Saujani. These speeches had the common thread of excitement over the program exceeding all expectations and enthusiasm surrounding the program’s growth potential. One of the girls spoke directly to the success of the program explaining that prior to her GWC experience, she had no interest in or knowledge about CS. Upon graduating, she announced her desire to study CS in hopes of being part of the next generation of tech professionals.
Demo presentations were next on the evening’s schedule. GWC participants were broken into groups of 2-3 and created projects that not only exemplified their newly acquired working knowledge of CS, but expressed their creativity. For example, two girls created the app “Mood Food,” in which users can find restaurants around them that satisfy a specific food craving. They explained that though this app is similar to Yelp.com, they believe their version is more user-friendly.
Today, just 3.6% of Fortune 500 companies are led by women, and less than 10% of venture capital-backed companies have female founders. Several technology companies, Google included, have joined the movement to close this gender gap, and GWC is testament to what can be accomplished through education, support, and access to the right resources. We look forward to seeing what the future holds for the GWC graduates and hope to see the program expand to encourage and empower more women as they pursue careers in technology.
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