Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM

Girl Who Codes Helps Girls Who Code

Tuesday, July 18, 2017, By Sophie Estep
Share
School of Information StudiesSTEMStudentsWhitman School of Management
Emily Simens

Emily Simens

According to the National Center for Women in Technology’s 2016 analysis, only 26 percent of professional computing occupations in the United States are held by women. This statistic is shocking in the current age of educational equality, but is on a steady rise thanks to organizations devoted to bringing technology to females across the country. One national program, Girls Who Code, is dedicated to closing the gender gap in technology once and for all.

What’s the best way to do this? Leaders and professionals at Girls Who Code have been trying to answer this question since the program’s founding in 2012. They believe this non-dismissible gap can be fixed by teaching school-aged girls the wonders and powers of technology. This is precisely how sophomore Emily Simens is spending her summer—as a teaching assistant for the J.P. Morgan Chase Brooklyn chapter of the Girls Who Code program.

The empowering cause of the organization is close to the heart for Simens, a dual major at the School of Information Studies (iSchool) and the Whitman School of Management. After participating in the Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program when she was in high school, Simens attributes her love of technology to the program’s influence on its participants.

“[This program] inspired me to study technology in college and apply to the iSchool,” she says. “After spending a year at the iSchool and being involved in the It Girls program I knew I wanted to spend my time on something really meaningful this summer. It combines my love for technology with my passion for nonprofit organizations and making positive changes in the world.”

As far as summer volunteer programs go, this is meaningful indeed. Nintey-three percent of Summer Immersion Program participants say they are interested in a computer science major because of the program, a direct success of the Girls Who Code influence.

Simens realizes what her time and effort is going to. “I’m really looking forward to being a part of a program that has such a lasting impact on girls. Being able to make a difference in other students’ lives really excites me.” As of 2015, Girls Who Code’s programming and clubs had an impact on the lives of over 12,000 girls in four short years. With this record, Simens’ work is sure to make an impact.

Simens’ training for her first-ever teaching experience included an intensive weekend in Atlanta. “We went through some coding projects, learned how to plan lessons, practiced teaching and participated in a presentation from the Perception Institute,” she recalls. “It was amazing to be able to connect with other like-minded teaching teams who are passionate about technology.”

Simens' Girls Who Code class in Brooklyn

Simens’ Girls Who Code class in Brooklyn

Through this training, Simens learned that she will be teaching many of the specific skills she has learned throughout her iSchool education. “We are teaching the students how to code in Python. One of the first projects they dive into is creating a photo filter. I feel confident teaching that topic since I took IST 256,” states Simens. IST 256 is an application programming course required for all iSchool undergraduates. “Another important skill I learned during 256 was how to use GitHub. The students will be using it this summer to collaborate when they work on group projects.”

While this summer will be one to remember for Simens, she also hopes to make it memorable for the students she is teaching. This experience will definitely affect her plans for her post-iSchool future. She is consistently inspired by the founder of Girls Who Code, Reshma Saujani. “[Saujani] has served as a public advocate, given commencement speeches, a TED talk and so much more. She’s an amazing role model, and always answers my emails even though she’s probably the busiest person I know!” Simens gushes. “I definitely see myself creating or starting something in the future. Working at a really innovative nonprofit organization with so many brilliant people will be an amazing experience.”

  • Author

Sophie Estep

  • Recent
  • Newhouse School to Host Scripps Howard Leadership Academy This Summer
    Wednesday, February 1, 2023, By Wendy S. Loughlin
  • 2023 Lunar New Year Celebrations in Photos
    Wednesday, February 1, 2023, By News Staff
  • University Community Invited to Forum With Diversity and Inclusion Vice President Mary Grace A. Almandrez, Student Leaders Feb. 13
    Wednesday, February 1, 2023, By News Staff
  • College of Visual and Performing Arts Announces 2023 VPA Scholars
    Wednesday, February 1, 2023, By Erica Blust
  • Donor’s ‘Belief in Potential’ Motivates $1.5M Gift
    Wednesday, February 1, 2023, By Eileen Korey

More In STEM

Donor’s ‘Belief in Potential’ Motivates $1.5M Gift

Like many young women with an interest in science, Laura Feldman ’81 thought about a career in medicine when she entered Syracuse University. But she was daunted by the statistics and her future prospects: At the time, women were not…

On Tragedy’s Anniversary, Former NASA Leader Sean O’Keefe Reflects on the ‘Price of Diligence’

The Columbia shuttle was scheduled to land at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on the morning of Feb. 1, 2003, after completing a successful 16-day research mission. Joining the families of the ship’s seven-member crew…

Syracuse University Environmental Finance Center Receives Multi-Million Dollar Environmental Protection Agency Grant to Support Underserved Communities

The Syracuse University Environmental Finance Center (SU-EFC) was selected by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to serve as a regional Environmental Finance Center (EFC) to help communities access federal infrastructure funds and continue supporting environmental and financial challenges in…

Getting to the ‘Point’: Powerful Computing Helps Identify Potential New Treatments for Coronaviruses

Coronaviruses, such as the one that causes COVID-19, have numerous protruding spikes salting their surfaces. When a coronavirus raises one of these spike proteins—like opening a finger to full length—it becomes capable of invading a human cell. The pointed spike…

Researchers Reject 30-Year-Old Paradigm: Emergence of Forests Did Not Reduce CO2 in Atmosphere

It’s hard to imagine our planet without trees. From providing wildlife habitat to reducing erosion and absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air, trees play an important role in maintaining a livable environment. But trees haven’t been around forever. Over…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2023 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.