A new UF club is teaching girls to code.
Tiffany Dixon, a UF computer engineering junior, and Tess Bianchi, a UF computer science junior, helped found a Girls Who Code chapter on campus three weeks ago.
Girls Who Code is a national organization with chapters across the country.
The two wanted to encourage girls to get involved with coding.
“We thought that there was a lack of encouragement for girls to go into computer science,” Bianchi, 20, said.
To solve this problem, they decided to use the recognizable Girls Who Code name to inspire girls throughout the Gainesville area, she said.
“We want there to be a community for girls in Gainesville who are interested in coding,” Dixon, 21, said.
The founding members have already started a programing club at P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School, she said. They also hope to start clubs in other local schools.
“We hope that it will bring more girls to not just major in computer science, but understand that it’s just a necessity,” Dixon said. “We want to close the gender gap that is in (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math fields).”
Bianchi said she believes this club is necessary because society doesn’t promote girls’ involvement in computer science. She only got involved with coding when her friend’s dad mentioned it.
“It was just pure luck I got into computer science,” she said. “There wasn’t a societal structure. I was just encouraged.”
Contact Meryl Kornfield at mkornfield@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @MerylKornfield.
