PayPal, the global leader in online payments,
recently launched the third edition of Girls in Tech, a two-week
workshop that teaches young girls tech craftsmanship by introducing them to the
basics of programming. The girls, between 8 and 14 years of age, will learn
coding from industry experts and senior leaders from PayPal from May 15 –
31, 2017 at the PayPal tech centers in Chennai and
Bangalore. The program has seen participation from over 100 girls since its
inception in 2015.
An initiative born out of PayPal’s long-term
commitment to diversity, Girls in Tech is aimed at nurturing a
sense of passion and craftsmanship in future talent, with a focus on inspiring tomorrow’s women
in technology right from an early stage. During the workshop, participants will
not only get the opportunity to learn programs such as Scratch, Python, App
Inventor and Online Me, but will also shadow a PayPal engineer, work on solving
real-world issues through coding as well as be a part of self and personality
development workshops. These include theatre, photography, robotics, public speaking,
innovation, First Aid and emergency awareness, among others.
“Among high school students, a lower percentage
of girls are interested in pursuing a career in STEM compared to boys. Industry
reports also state that
women hold a disproportionately low share of most STEM undergraduate degrees,
earning just 20% of engineering degrees in 2014. At PayPal, we strongly believe
that initiatives such as Girls in Tech can change this trend by instilling a
love for technology in girls from an early stage,” says Guru Bhat, GM
Technology and Head of Engineering– PayPal. “We introduce the
participants to coding in fun, artistic ways to help them understand that
technology is full of surprises. After all, it is not mere coding or
engineering that we need in the industry at the moment - we need technology
craftsmen with the passion to strengthen the technology community in India.”
Manasa Vijayaraghavan, a
13-year-old participant said that she didn’t realize coding could be so much
fun. “This is my third year at the workshop and it has been a fabulous
experience. I am passionate about getting into robotics in the future and this
program has helped me get my foundation in place by teaching me the basics of
coding. I never thought I would be so interested in algorithms and flow charts,
but now I also plan on taking some online lessons and explore website
development. The sessions, games and activities here make it a very memorable
experience for me and I cannot wait to come back.”
No comments:
Post a Comment