A Byte Is All We Need

It was time to begin teaching my class. The children were in their seats, laptops turned on, ready to begin. I scanned the doorway, hoping for one more girl to arrive: there were nine boys in my class and just two girls. I was conducting free coding classes, but young girls were still reluctant to attend. As a 15-year-old computer enthusiast, I was baffled by this lack of interest.

A young boy arrived with his mother. As the mother was preparing to leave, I asked her, "If you have the time, why don’t you stay? Maybe you could help your son." She agreed. I started my class without further delay. In the next class, the boy’s mother brought along a friend and her daughter. Subsequent classes saw the registration of a few more girls, friends of friends. My message was getting across: computer science (CS) is not as difficult as presumed-it is fun, and more importantly, it is certainly not an exclusively male-oriented domain.

Ankita Mitra, a 15-year-old student at Monta Vista High School in Cupertino, CA.

http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2016/6/202643-a-byte-is-all-we-need/fulltext