My Involvement with the Girls Who Code program

This year I have the opportunity to volunteer again with the Girls Who Code program through my employer, Expedia. I love this program and hope when you learn about it you will share my enthusiasm for the program.

When I share my involvement with Girls Who Code, a program that teaches high-school aged girls programming skills, with friends, I sometimes hear complaints about how unfair it is that this program that benefits “only women” exists. While I understand the complaint, I also disagree with it because I feel this type of advantage for young girls benefits our society made up of men and women as a whole. Our society greatly benefits from raising confident, capable women. Having come from a graduating class of 2 women (out of 60 students) for my Masters degree, I am acutely aware of some of the challenges of being part of a minority in the programming field and agree that programs such as this one are necessary.

Last year was my first year volunteering with the Girls Who Code organization as a mentor. In the program, a Girls Who Code teacher gives programming instruction to a classroom full of high-school aged girls at Expedia or other participating companies everyday. Some of the girls who were part of the program last year get to be part of the apprenticeship program this year, where they get to work alongside developers and gain exposure into the industry (similar to an intern program).

My role as a mentor is to get to know my mentee by taking her out to lunch once a week for the duration of the 7-week program. I help my mentee by being there to answer any questions she has about the career roles and by encouraging her to try programming and think about it as a viable career option.

My role in influencing the next generation is especially meaningful to me. I would definitely recommend the programming industry to my lady-friends, and I hope what I write here can help benefit women who might consider a career in programming. Here are some of the main benefits I see from my career in programming:

• Well-paid income that helps my family meet financial goals 
• I get to work with kind, bright people such as my manager and team who help me learn and grow 
• I get to mentor more junior employees as they learn the codebases and technologies 
• Challenging work that like everything, has its ups and downs, but can be interesting and help me feel like I am contributing to society in a small, but significant way 
• Programming in “the real world” gives life experience that I believe will make me a better parent someday -- I have learned a great deal about being brave and having gumption to solve problems 

Sometimes when you’re programming you just have to try things out, take risks, and be brave that you can solve a challenging problem. In this way, programming, interestingly enough, has taught me a lot about bravery. This skill-set applies to many aspects of my life as I have learned how to be brave. For example, my husband and I needed to take out our screens so that the HOA could come clean our windows for the townhome we live in and then put them back in. Even though I had no experience with screens, I decided to learn and I was really glad because it confirmed for me that I can figure out tricky things too.

I have learned gumption through problems at work. I have gained more confidence in my work career and I feel many of the skills I’ve gained here can apply to other aspects of my life. I am especially useful through church at times because I know how to analyze and systematically solve problems that we run into through our day-to-day operations.

In my experience, many women in high school or college do not know what programming is or recognize that it is something they should try out! Everyone can benefit from learning a little about what makes up the magic of a smartphone, a website, a mobile app, or any other sort of program.

Programming is about solving problems. Sometimes people ask me what they can do to help benefit women in programming. I believe the best thing to do is to increase the pipeline of women coming into programming. Say to the girls you know, “Hey, you should be a programmer!” I am happy to chat with or get to know young girls you know and share survival advice or go more into detail on some of the sweet things a career in programming offers.

Thanks for reading!

-Mrs. M (and Mr. D)