Loyola Chapter of Girls Who Code Begins Spring Session

Loyola’s chapter of Girls Who Code began its spring session March 1. Undergraduate and graduate student fellows provide weekly free computer coding lessons for students grade 6-12, creating pathways for career opportunities in the field.  

Girls Who Code is an international nonprofit organization committed to increasing the number of women in computer science fields and closing the gender gap in technology. 

Loyola’s chapter of Girls Who Code, which meets in the Edward Crown Center for the Humanities, was founded in 2017 with support from Elizabeth Hopwood, the director of the program and acting director of the Center for Textual Studies and Digital Humanities.

Nancy Rojas, a fourth-year cybersecurity major and one of the program’s current lead fellows, said the main purpose of Girls Who Code is to instill and encourage confidence in students and introduce young girls to different areas within computer coding and science, technology, engineering and math fields.

“The Girls Who Code motto is ‘brave, not perfect,’ and that’s something we try to reiterate to the girls every session,” Rojas said. 

Rojas joined the program as a student volunteer during her second year in 2023. Through her experience teaching coding lessons and activities, she said she has enjoyed observing students become more eager to try coding while making friendships and building community. 

Rojas said much of the club’s importance lies in the opportunities it offers young girls and underrepresented populations in computer coding and other STEM fields, providing resources they might not otherwise have access to. 

Loyola’s chapter of Girls Who Code provides its students examples of women in technological fields by hosting guest speakers who are typically program alumni or industry professionals. 

The program allows young girls to explore interests in coding at the critical age when their interests develop, according to Hopwood. Hopwood said between the ages of 11 and 13 confidence and interest in computer science tend to drop, making Girls Who Code vital for the advancement of women in technology.

“Everything that we do, tech is embedded, and technology, it’s about culture, and it’s about power and it’s about representation,” Hopwood said. “We need all sorts of people being the ones who are developing our products and our apps and our websites.”

Graduate computer science student and current student fellow Kayla Salerno said she recognizes the need for providing STEM education for students in the surrounding Rogers Park area.

Girls Who Code students receive in-depth computer science and computer programming learning opportunities their schools might not expose them to, allowing students to explore the field and discover their interests prior to high school graduation, according to Salerno. 

“I’m happy to bring awareness and education to girls who might end up loving programming early on so they have the time and the opportunity to explore their interests within such a diverse field,” Salerno said.

Girls Who Code also provides leadership opportunities for Loyola students. Rojas said she creates a majority of the teaching material for the club, reaches out to parents, advertises the sessions and interacts with the regional manager of Girls Who Code. 

“It was really nice seeing the girls coding — they were really eager to go into learning, so I aligned with the values of Girls Who Code club which is what pushed me to keep getting involved with it,” Rojas said. 

Zoha Hassan, a graduate computer science student and one of the program’s current lead fellows, said Girls Who Code grants its leaders a sense of community and resources, including alumni connections, events and virtual career fairs.

“Girls Who Code has reminded me that there’s a community of girls who are just like me, who are experiencing very similar situations as me, and so I’m not alone in that, and that there are people I can reach out to help me in my career,” Hassan said. 

Hassan said Girls Who Code tailors its curriculum to the knowledge and interests of its students, noting what topics students have prior experience with, and what they want to learn throughout the duration of the program.    

Students in the program are learning the JavaScript language and how to code and design personal websites with HTML and CSS. Projects are typically short and digestible for students to easily understand while also being fun and engaging, according to Rojas. 

Hassan said the students enjoy creating their own websites because it allows them to exercise their creativity through coding.

“A lot of girls love designing,” Hassan said. “They’re very creative, and being able to use STEM to do that is really cool, and it shows a different perspective.”

Hopwood said the program serves around five to six students this semester, but she hopes to improve the number to around ten to 15 students by the program’s 2026 spring session. 

She hopes the program will secure additional internal and external grant funding to begin compensating students currently holding positions while also expanding the program to offer more paid positions.