When I was the only girl in my high school AP Computer Science class, I shrugged it off. But when I was also one of the only women at my first hackathon, and then at my first internship, it started to feel like something worth examining.
Research consistently shows that girls perform just as well as boys in STEM subjects, but social pressures and the absence of visible role models push many away before they ever get started. It's not an ability gap — it's an access and visibility gap.
My turning point was attending the Grace Hopper Celebration. Thousands of women coders, founders, and leaders — all in one place. I networked, found mentors, and landed an internship through a connection I made there. Seeing people who looked like me doing exactly what I wanted to do changed what I thought was possible for myself.
For girls getting into tech: find community early — Girls Who Code, Rewriting the Code, and local meetup groups are great places to start. Speak up even when you're the only woman in the room — your perspective matters precisely because it's different. And build and share your work publicly. GitHub profiles and blogs speak for themselves.
For allies: amplify voices, give credit, and make space. Challenge bias when you see it — in classrooms, in hiring, in code reviews. Tech isn't just a career field. It's where the future gets built. We need everyone in the room.
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