On Monday and Tuesday, November 6 and 7, four schools in Naples will participate in an all-female hackathon, creating the first female “coding clubs” to also help reduce female school dropouts and unemployment.
In the Campania Region, the rate of young women abandoning their studies continues to decrease, but more must be done. Notwithstanding the fact that, over the course of ten years, the Regione Campania has lowered school dropout rates by 11 points (28.4% to 17.3%), it is still far from the EU objective of reaching 10% by 2020.
The number of female university graduates is on the rise, nearly one out of every four; however, the number of women outside of education and work is not decreasing: they are more than 36%. Furthermore, 50% of women in Campania are unemployed.
The Coding Girls will be in Naples to address these challenges and help overcome gender stereotypes by interesting women in coding and allowing them to experience the active use of new technology firsthand.
The National Coding Girls Tour, which will begin in Naples on Monday, November 6, is promoted by the Fondazione Mondo Digitale and the United States Diplomatic Mission in Italy in collaboration with Microsoft.
A series of intensive training sessions and a hackathon are the tools that the team of coaches, coordinated by Emily Thomforde, Code Educator and Science Technology Engineering Art and Mathematics (STEAM) Specialist, will used to introduce over 120 young women from four schools (Giordani-Striano, Vico, Nitti and Cuoco) to rational thinking through coding exercises.
Shawn Baxter, United States Consul for Press and Culture in Naples, will be at the Naples Liceo Vico to kick off this new adventure.
Block after block, the young women will have 24 hours to prepare for the programming marathon that will be held at the IIS Nitti School in Naples (Via John Fitzgerald Kennedy n.140 – Tuesday, November 7).
The tour will move on to Rome, Catania and Milan, but the challenge will continue in Naples, too. Each school will be involved in the creation of a Coding Girls Club, in which the young women will act as positive mentors and organised meetings to introduce their peers to coding and creativity in other schools throughout the region.
