1. Tech is everywhere!
The tech industry is growing exponentially every single year. In almost every field you can think of, there is some sort of technology attached to it! Whether it be math, business, or even politics, there’s some sort of tech supporting your interests! While the main skill in our class is coding, our projects can have us analyzing datasets such as military government spending to housing prices! One of my assignments was to look at a dataset as specific as restaurants in the Boston area and whether they passed their inspections! Different fields support each other and overlap much more than we know!
2. Women are still underrepresented in the tech industry, specifically computer science.
While overall enrollment in STEM programs has increased, women are still largely underrepresented in STEM fields! According to Northeastern University, women make up 50% of the college educated work force, yet 25% of women make up computer scientists! I couldn’t help but notice that in our class, though there are women, there is still an overwhelming amount of men in the class. Clearly, there is still some work that has to be done.
3. It’s never too late to start!
Growing up in a tech-oriented city like Seattle, many kids start coding and learning about computer science from a fairly young age. By mid-high school, some of my friends were pretty well-versed in basic coding languages such as Java. Seeing enough people already being so involved in computer science, I felt intimidated by the field and the people in it. Clearly these people were passionate enough about what they were doing, I wouldn’t stand a chance! However, being in a class with almost all beginners, and having a professor and TAs who are patient and helpful showed me that anyone can code, and it’s never too late to start.