
I Spent Spring Break Teaching Girls to Code - sarika008
https://medium.com/bright/amazing-story-ef14cf2ddf84
======
spiffyman
This is a great story. Thanks for sharing. If you don't mind my asking, what
materials did you use to develop your curriculum, and have you shared the
curriculum anywhere? (Apologies if this is on the site. Didn't see it but
might have missed.)

~~~
supercanuck
Looks like it is based off
[http://www.finchrobot.com](http://www.finchrobot.com) and some basic HTML.

[http://tina98.github.io/HelloWorld/](http://tina98.github.io/HelloWorld/)

------
andresmanz
Back then at school, I held a presentation about a simple calculator I wrote.
I explained them my code in the hope to make programming more interesting.
They _were_ interested, but it turned out that, in the end, I was the only one
to take an apprenticeship as a programmer.

Then in my apprenticeship, we had one single woman in our class. As far as I
remember, she only took that apprenticeship because of her father, who was the
boss of some IT company. She quit it after three (of four) years. And no,
there wasn't even one single comment regarding her being female.

The other girls at that tech school looked at us in funny ways, sometimes
saying things like "Oh look, these guys must be the strange programmer nerds!
OMG!" \- which was funny, because we usually acted more "normal" than they
did.

I don't know what it's like today. It's been about six years since then. But
at least back then, the women here simply weren't interested in programming. I
got to know two female Swiss programmers until now, and I haven't heard from
both of them for more than 5 years now.

~~~
katelynsills
It sounds like you're saying, "Programming was offered to them, but they
didn't take it, so apparently they didn't want it."

But what was "programming"? Was it a skill/profession, or a lifestyle that was
being offered to the women? I think it's often seen as a lifestyle - i.e.
programmers only eat pizza and wear hackathon t-shirts and spend their free
time playing video games. Of course this is wildly inaccurate. Good
programmers need to only have knowledge and an interest and ability to learn
more - what you eat, wear, and enjoy as a hobby shouldn't matter. But if you
go to someone and ask if she wants to give up her own lifestyle and own
interests to become a "programmer", she's going to say no.

I suspect that so many people enjoy the stereotypical activities that they're
unable to separate out the programming lifestyle from the actual skills
necessary.

~~~
throwaway999666
And why do you think this stereotypical lifestyle is supposedly more appealing
to men than women?

~~~
katelynsills
Sorry, I'm having a hard time figuring out what your question is getting at.

Are you saying that the stereotypical programming lifestyle is equally
appealing to men and women? Just looking at video games, I don't think that's
the case. For instance, I recently started playing Dragon Age Origins, and
playing as a female Gray Warden, I kept getting repeated comments from NPCs
saying "Really? A female Gray Warden. Wouldn't expect that", and so forth. Why
would a woman choose to make a video game that is continuously surprised that
she exists? I really enjoyed the game, but it's honestly the stuff like that
that tells you in subtle ways that you're not welcome.

~~~
throwaway999666
You might be conflating the game telling _you_ the player that you are not
welcome, and the game universe telling your character that a female Gray
Warden is unusual/unconventional, maybe even offensive to the game universe's
(NPCs) sensibilities.

Dragon Age Origins is a medieval fantasy setting, right? I guess that they
were more concerned with creating a setting that was more in line with our
view of an European medieval age-inspired fantasy setting, as opposed to some
parallel universe where men and women are equally represented in fighting
classes/hero roles.

I haven't played a Dragon Age game so I might be missing something/getting
something wrong.

As a side-note, the "a woman to do a man's job, really?" is a common
revenge/I'll-show-them trope used to build up to a pay-off involving proving
those people wrong. Or just telling them off immediately, but that is a less
satisfying variation.

~~~
katelynsills
That's definitely a valid point, but there's two things that make me disagree.
First, if you look at the game with the perspective of making the game
enjoyable to women, you wouldn't put in mild sexism similar to that which
already annoys them in real life, especially if it often comes from friendly
characters that you can't trounce in response. :) Video games are supposed to
be fun! So, from that I assume that Dragon Age Origins wasn't made with women
in mind as the audience, or if it was, they didn't do it very enjoyably.

Secondly, I think attributing the mild sexism in the game to intentional
world-building is a bit of a stretch, considering that the main religious
figure in the game is a warrior woman prophet. I don't think women warriors
would be such a surprise in that world! It's more likely that it's just
something that came from our current society that got mapped onto the game
because the creators didn't think about it. It's unfortunate, because with
such an interesting mythology, you could do some really novel cultural things
in that world.

Anyways, I've gotten off topic, but I do think there are characteristics that
make it easier to blend into the programmer lifestyle (such as video games)
and characteristics that make it harder (such as liking fashion) and all of
those characteristics contribute to the person's choice of whether to become a
programmer, especially since programming is more of an all-consuming
occupation than most. And, these characteristics are not equally shared
between men and women.

------
jperras
> In a survey after the camp, I asked the girls if they may want to pursue
> computer science in the future: every single student responded with an
> enthusiastic YES!

Literally and honestly brought a tear to my eye. The world needs more people
like Christina Li.

------
alan57
Inspiring. I was glad to see a coding camp for kids in my neighborhood. It
conflicted with another summer camp we'd chosen, now I'm curious to know about
the gender breakdown of the participants.

------
smegel
> Maybe the lack of women in computer science

I find this ironic coming from an Asian women. Maybe she means a lack of white
women in computer science. I recall my University lectures were dominated by
Asian students, and of those, the gender balance was pretty even. Among non-
Asian students, the vast majority were white men.

~~~
balls187
What is ironic about this?

~~~
smegel
Someone coming from a female group which is definitely not lacking in IT
complaining about the lack of females? Maybe you just don't understand what
irony is.

~~~
balls187
If her complaining about the lack of women in tech was a reason why women
don't choose tech, _THAT_ would be ironic.

Her point stands regardless of the fact that she is a women in tech: there is
a lack of women in tech, when compared to other professions such as Law or
Medicine.

~~~
smegel
> If her complaining about the lack of women in tech was a reason why women
> don't choose tech, THAT would be ironic.

Not that would be stupid.

> Her point stands regardless

You can be ironic and correct at the same time you know!

------
009900giant
> "Maybe it’s because women like Margaret Hamilton [...] and Grace Hopper
> [...] aren’t as popularized and mythologized as men like Bill Gates and
> Steve Jobs."

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are famous for being titans of industry. They are
not known for their technical abilities. Steve Jobs never even wrote code.

~~~
cheepin
Bill Gates is absolutely known for his technical abilities.

------
oldmanjay
Interesting article. One line bothered me

>Maybe it’s because of the still prevalent mindset that women shouldn’t be in
engineering at all.

Is this is an actual prevalent mindset? I've literally never encountered it in
the last two decades, although I also never attended university. I do assume,
as a white male, that I would be approached by other males who would confide
such prejudices in me. I've certainly been approached by white people (in non-
engineering contexts) who assumed I would be comfortable with racist behavior
so I feel like I would be soaking in obvious, blatant examples of this claim,
but it has literally never happened.

Is this just an underlying assumption people have, and it goes unchallenged
because of the apparent prevailing belief that contradicting a woman about
sexism claims is also sexism? Is it a mindset that one finds primarily on
campus? Have I just been lucky in selecting employers?

This is true curiosity, although I'll certainly understand if some of you are
too emotional about the topic to avoid downvoting me for asking the question.
I've had enough tangles over this issue to know that it's fairly rare to find
people willing to calmly discuss these things.

~~~
hammerdr
Just as an opposite anecdote, I find that I run into it all the time.
Sometimes, its from people that are outside of the tech industry itself.
Sometimes, it is from people that don't realize that they are saying such a
thing. Sometimes, its from people of different cultural background (e.g.
Chinese developers). I see this in SF, saw it in Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta and
in the various countries I've worked in.

I also recognized that it has took me a lot of time and a lot of effort to get
to a point where I recognize it. 10 years ago, many of the things that would
set off the "Hey; that does seem right" alarm bell would be unconsciously
ignored and taken at face value.

If I may presume, I'm going to suggest that your experience may be because
you're more 'attuned' to racism than you are to sexism. For me, at least, it
takes effort and willful learning to come to better grips with sexism, racism,
ageism, etc. It's hard work!

~~~
byerley
Can you elaborate on why spending time and effort to find offensiveness in
things makes sense to you?

The concept seems so outlandish to me that I'm not sure how to word the
question more politely, sorry.

~~~
jameshart
There's something weird about the way you phrased this. You're aware that what
you said was impolite, but you can't think of a way to be more polite. I think
this might be related to the fact that you find the idea of seeing how things
that you don't find offensive might be offensive to other people 'outlandish'.

What it suggests is a lack of empathy, which extends to your assuming that
other people are also incapable of empathy. Sorry, I'm also not sure how to
word that more politely.

Imagine, for a moment, that other people are honest in their assertion that
they are offended (for example that women find some common, everyday behavior
offensive and sexist).

Imagine, for a moment that other people are capable of feeling empathy for
those people (for example, that they have learned, through empathy, to notice
the same sexist behavior and find it offensive, even though they are not
women).

Then you might realize that they are not 'spending time and effort to find
offensiveness', but just capable of empathy. Sorry if that seems outlandish,
but.. it's the truth, sorry.

~~~
bobcostas55
I feel this is just begging the question. It's not about being "capable of
empathy" but directing that empathy toward very specific groups of people. To
illustrate: how much would you modify your behavior to accommodate someone who
is offended by gay marriage?

So now we're left with: why this set of people?

And while I'm sure there is a complex framework of narratives and
rationalizations and models of power structures, etc. in support of who gets
to be in the in-group and who doesn't, to me it seems mostly like a case of
mindless tribalism.

Presenting/accepting horrifyingly bad arguments like "you don't share my
viewpoint because you're incapable of empathy" is not done because people
actually believe in them, but as a signal of tribal membership.

~~~
eropple
_> To illustrate: how much would you modify your behavior to accommodate
someone who is offended by gay marriage?_

Not a whit, because after considering the situation I have concluded that
same-sex marriage, while it may _offend_ them, does not _harm_ them. There's a
world of difference between _offended_ and _harmed_. My thought process goes,
"hey, I can see people being harmed by not being able to get married to the
person they love, while these people over there who are _offended_ are going
to be just fine not-gay-marrying each other."

I think those who prioritize their _offense_ over others' _harm_ really do
lack empathy. (This is why, despite a personal dislike of a number of rather
loud social justice activists, I'll go to bat for the causes that they
support, while I can be offended by their conduct, they are _right_ and others
are being harmed. I am an adult and can put up with being offended to help
others not be harmed.)

------
srgvd
So, given the ability to chose between a personal STEM-related project (mostly
male) and teaching activity (the area absolutely dominated by female) on her
spring break, Christina went for the later.

~~~
oalders
So, this was your takeaway?

Is teaching in this subject also (sic) "absolutely dominated by female"? I
doubt it. It's also an incredible amount of work to organize something like
this. Kudos to anyone, regardless of gender, who takes this kind of thing on.

I have two little girls. When they're a bit older, I hope some motivated
individual is around to put on an event like this for them. If not, maybe that
person will be me. :)

~~~
srgvd
> Is teaching in this subject also (sic) "absolutely dominated by female"? I
> doubt it.

[http://www.oecd.org/std/37964549.pdf](http://www.oecd.org/std/37964549.pdf)

FEMALE DOMINATED OCCUPATIONS IN 20 OECD COUNTRIES, Women to Men Ratio

Pre-primary Education Teaching Associate Professionals 14.5:1

Primary Education Teaching Associate Professionals 6.2:1

Special Education Teaching Professionals 5.6:1

Primary and Pre-primary Education Teaching 5.3:1

> It's also an incredible amount of work to organize something like this.

I never said it was simple or unneeded.

~~~
oalders
Sure, many types of teaching may be dominated by females, but is _teaching to
code_ dominated by females?

~~~
srgvd
I am not aware of any statistics on this subject. How exactly this is related
to my observation?

All engineers I know who worth their salt acquired their skills mostly through
self-education and lot of practice, and the process was gender-independent. I
don't think 'boys-are-not-allowed' classes will put any of the participants
closer to professional careers in coding.

~~~
dragonwriter
> I am not aware of any statistics on this subject. How exactly this is
> related to my observation?

Its related to the validity of your "observation", in that, if teaching _to
code_ is not a female-dominated activity, your "observation" that she chose a
female-dominated activity is false.

> All engineers I know who worth their salt acquired their skills mostly
> through self-education and lot of practice, and the process was gender-
> independent

Oh, well, if we are going to do dueling anecdotes, all programmers (even if
_including_ that population within engineers is proper, there are a lot of
engineers _outside_ of that group, and I'm not talking about them, since this
is about teaching coding, not teaching engineering in some general sense)
worth their salt I know started by being taught by someone -- _usually_ in
school or a similar environment, though sometimes tutoring by a family member
with experience in the field played a similar role -- at a fairly young age,
and _then_ , after developing an interest there, proceeded to choose further
education -- both guided and autodidactic -- and lots of practice.

~~~
srgvd
> Its related to the validity of your "observation", in that, if teaching to
> code is not a female-dominated activity, your "observation" that she chose a
> female-dominated activity is false.

Well, if you insist on reductio at absurdum, let's continue on. Teaching to
code in gilrs-only classes is obviously not a male-dominated activity, would
you agree on that?

\--

This side of the pond, it's fun to observe how Americans try to integrate
minorities into bigger groups. The usual tools are: "positive discrimination",
ban on open discussion and general patronising attitude on the side of a
majority. Because that worked just oh so well with racial minorities.

Last thing women need is your 'knight in the shiny armour' stance toward them.
Just treat them as equals, and they'll beat you in your own game once
interested enough. It's that easy.

(And, yes, I'm a married man; a father of a beautiful, independent and
ambitious daughter; and a hiring manager, with 100% women applicants being
hired so far: for being great engineers, albeit a bit unconfident, hence only
applying when absolutely sure they're up for the job).

~~~
dragonwriter
No, I wouldn't agree that teaching girls to code is not male-dominated. Mmost
of the specific efforts I've seen have involved make instructors. That may or
may not be representative, but in the absence of structured days I'm not just
going to assume that because girls are targeted it must not be a male-
dominated activity. It may or may not be.

I don't know what the rant in the rest of your post has to do with this
diverged; it looks like a canned rant unrelated to the immediate discussion.

------
balls187
Do girls look at Christina Li and see someone who looks weird (admission: I'm
old so I have no idea if her personal style choice is fashionable), and does
that turn girls off from STEM?

Doctors and Lawyers look more professional, and perhaps that appeals more
broadly to the women who would otherwise be qualified to go into tech?

~~~
maxerickson
No.

~~~
balls187
Then why is "Maybe the lack of women in computer science comes from the
stereotype of a male programmer hacking the government in his parents’
basement." relevant?

Presumably because women don't want to be associated with "men who live in
their parents basements."

That's pretty similar to women don't want to be associated with "people who
don't fit conventional stereotypes."

Blatant sexism hasn't stopped women from achieving in other fields: medicine,
law, business, so I wouldn't expect blatant sexism to stop women from
achieving in computer science.

Instead, I think that Computer Science doesn't have broad appeal the way other
professional fields do.

------
pcote
At first, I was confused. The goal of most software projects is to cut costs
and increase revenue for some line of business. How does bringing more women
into programming help?

I asked my wife this question. Her answer.... It achieves the goal because
women traditionally earn less money than men for the same job. I was stunned.
Maybe she's right.

~~~
balls187
> It achieves the goal because women traditionally earn less money than men
> for the same job. I was stunned. Maybe she's right.

The Gender Pay Gap in the US is all but non-existant, and the largest
discrepancy is due the fact that women are less likely to negotiate more than
men.

> The goal of most software projects is to cut costs and increase revenue for
> some line of business. How does bringing more women into programming help?

There aren't enough good engineers to fill the open software positions.
Increasing the pool of qualified applicants directly impacts the ability for
teams to deliver software.

