Not fitting in, feeling like the outsider and having “imposter syndrome” are all things women majoring in the computer sciences said they have experienced.
Even with all of the recent emphasis on getting young girls to develop an interest in science and technology, only about 18% of all college degrees in computer science are earned by women, and it’s not because they don’t want to work in the field.
“It’s tough. I’ve experienced being in an elevator where a bunch of guys exchange their phone number and they don’t exchange it with you,” said Lucille Tasker, a University of Wisconsin student majoring in computer science.
“It’s honestly a little bit difficult,” said Evelyn Putri, a Duke University student studying electrical, computer and biomedical engineering. “In my internship right now, I am the only girl.”
Sue Harnett has been hearing these kinds of stories for decades. Harnett is an entrepreneur based in Durham who started and sold her own technology company, Replay Photos, a sports e-commerce and technology business.
She first became aware of the problem when consulting at Duke, her alma mater.
“It just really resonated with me that it was a sad situation that women were leaving something that they really loved and were passionate about because of reasons I thought were addressable,” Harnett said.
This inspired her to start Rewriting the Code. It’s a nonprofit that connects college-age women with their peers majoring in the technology fields.
An accomplished Durham entrepreneur saw women turning away from science and technology jobs. So she started Rewriting the Code, a non-profit to create connections, community and support.
“The No. 1 reason why women leave the field, based on our research, is because of community,” she said.
Rewriting the Code is providing that community. It is now made up of more than 2,800 women from all over the country. The organization acts as a way to connect these women with each other so they don’t feel so alone in their experience. It also helps women find mentors and internships.
RTC works with companies of all sizes from startups to big corporations like Apple and Lyft. It’s completely free to join for any woman majoring in a technology field.
“I really think of us as facilitators,” Harnett said. “We are gathering these women from all over the country, and they have an immediate network both virtually and in person.”
“Finding a community is huge. I didn’t have a community at Wisconsin, and meeting more women in tech made it way easier to stay there and feel like I belonged,” said Tasker. She interned with Bandwidth in Raleigh this summer thanks to RTC.
Harnett said she wants to continue to grow the network in hopes of getting more women to stick with their majors and achieve their technology dreams. This will eventually lead to women making up a larger percentage of the technology workforce.
“No company should hire a woman because it’s the right thing to do,” Harnett said. “They should really hire them because it is the right thing for their company from the standpoint of creating really great products and services.”
