PayPal launches third edition of Girls in Tech

PayPal 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 and14 years of age, will learn coding from industry experts and senior leaders from PayPal from 15^th – 31^st May, 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 & 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.”