Girls can code too

Published : 18-May-2022

“Coding really isn’t for me…coding is only for boys.”  These are common misconceptions, but very raw feelings of many girls when discussing coding or computer science, according to Code/Art, a nonprofit in Miami, Florida whose mission is inspire girls to code. Code/Art knows that such views are far from the truth and aims to change the narrative by creating experiential opportunities for females in technology, particularly from underrepresented communities.  Fully supporting that mission, the PPG Foundation recently supported the annual CodeYourSelf™️ national coding competition for girls in grades three to 12.

This national competition is teeming of interactive creativity for willing young minds.  The 2022 competition theme was: “On the Go!”  Participants were encouraged to reflect on the prior year’s pandemic lockdown and how they proposed to “move forward.”  After that determination was made, several guidelines needed to be adhered, such as, write a computer program to generate a self-portrait using java script. All designs had to be coded not submitted in imagery (gifs, jpgs, pngs were not allowed) and include written portions to posed questions.

Code/Art CEO, Amy Renshaw has this to say about the success of the organization, “Many girls are not going into coding because they think it’s merely computational, it’s not something where they can be creative, so I think that’s where we really stand out.” 

Besides being a winner, what did the students find most rewarding? “…The final end product! Since I was adding the final details down to the second, I was very proud of my portrait made out of coding!,”  remarked a proud fifth grader. 

Code/Art prides itself on a near-peer model approach, where older students assist younger ones.  Such as is the case with a 10th grade student instructor, Rania Ishoof, who stated from experience, “Coding makes me feel optimistic, when I think of coding and all of the potential that technology has in store for us, it makes me feel very excited about the future and what we will be able to build.” 

“We were all too excited to support the Code/Art organization, as their outreach is built to scale throughout the entire nation in multiple communities with educators and students providing the needed training to make a profound difference,” said Malesia Dunn, executive director, PPG Foundation and corporate global social responsibility. 

The PPG Foundation supports programs that seek to close the STEM gender gap, by funding a variety of hands-on science learning opportunities with the goal of sparking and keeping the flame lit in girls who become women working in STEM fields in the future.

To learn about the PPG Foundation’s commitment to building the next generation of diverse and innovative STEM leaders, click here.