Girls Code Club is a three-week coding camp for girls at gymnasium level where the girls learn some programming and data analysis, listen to inspiring talks from engineers and researchers, and engage in social activities with university students.
Behind this initiative are three researchers at the department Computer Science and Engineering: Ana Bove, Ahmed Ali-Eldin Hassan and Francisco Gomes.
“Women are underrepresented in STEM areas, both in academy and in the industry. In order to change this, we need to attract women already at an early stage”, says Ana Bove.
Girls Code Club started as a way to give girls the opportunity to try out coding in a relaxed and fun environment.
“Our hope is that young women realise that working in computer science is challenging in a fun way. Ideally, we inspire them and help them realise that they are as capable as anyone else to make a real impact in this exciting field.”
Chalmers Equality Award is an annual prize that is awarded to one or several employees or students as a recognition of excellence in promoting equality and diversity at Chalmers.
The award shows a great breadth and range. Students as well as employees, men and women, both groups and individuals have submitted nominations and received nominations. One of the awards is given to the team behind Girls Code Club.
“It feels really nice to receive the award! This prize confirms the importance of this kind of initiatives, so my hope is that other people get inspired and come up with ways to attract women to STEM areas. We have always got a lot of support from our colleagues and management, which has been very encouraging for us”, says Ana Bove.
Justifications from the jury – Ana Bove, Francisco Gomes and Ahmed Ali-Eldin Hassan
They receive the award for their work with Girls' Code Club, GCC, a coding bootcamp for high school students. This team developed the GCC, a three-week summer program that encourages young women to explore their interests in programming by offering them hands-on experience at Chalmers. Not only do the participants get to learn about computer science, they also have the opportunity to make friends who share the same interests in coding. After attending GCC, several students have also applied to Chalmers’ computer science) undergraduate program, something they claim they would not have done otherwise.
Read more about Girls Code Club