Hub Staff

Girls Who Code originated in the United States as an initiative to encourage adolescent girls’ involvement in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). While women make up 50 percent of the Canadian workforce, this drops to less than 25 percent when you look at jobs in STEM. Girls Who Code is striving to close this gender gap by running free after school programs that provide coding tutorials in a safe, hands-on working environment.

Although girls aged 6 to 12 show a strong interest in STEM, this significantly drops off in the 13 to 17 year old range. The Girls Who Code clubs target females in Grades 6 to 12 to help preserve their engagement and provide them with the confidence to pursue a career in the STEM fields.

The Kincardine - Port Elgin Girls Who Code chapter held their first event, run by Nuclear Promise X (NPX) on March 8, International Women’s Day, in Kincardine. They have since partnered with Promation Nuclear in Port Elgin to expand their chapter with club sessions alternating between the two locations. The chapter currently has between 10 and 15 members.

Program instructors include Niv Saberi, Innovation Catalyst from NPX and Margaret McBeath, Corporate Strategy at NPX. Anna Masarik, Manager of Proposals from Promation Nuclear in Port Elgin will assist with the Port Elgin events.

In an April 17 email, Saberi explained, ”Girls Who Code encourages girls to impact their community in a positive way through code. Girls [learn] coding and build community through interactive activities, learn about inspiring role models, join a sisterhood of supportive peers and role models and use computer science to change the world.”

Registration forms for Spring and Summer workshops are available at https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/8f34c3_0bec3921839a410d835c021cd6fa48ad.pdf.