TMLA Junior Myah Mitchell found that NYU Tandon School of Engineering offered a unique opportunity for young women to help close the gender gap in tech with the program Girls Who Code.
During the 7 week program, Myah and her group first learned the basics of coding and then used this skill in various projects. They coded websites and apps; they built robots and wrote code for the robots. For the final project, Myah’s group created a website called “Ecocloset” that focused on bringing attention to brands that use sweatshops while promoting eco-friendly brands.
Part of the program included a visit to the Kate Spade New York Foundation headquarters where 3 of the girls’ mentors maximized the girls’ experience by sharing their own experiences that guided them to their careers within the STEM community. A visit to Google headquarters also introduced the girls to women who shared their paths to STEM careers at Google. These women spoke about the challenges of being a woman in a field that is predominantly male and how they overcame these challenges. They also talked about the variety of STEM positions they hold at Google.
Kate Spade Foundation gave Myah a full scholarship for the program and provided her with a laptop computer.