The Girls' Coding Club, established by EPFL, is a free programming club for girls aged 11 to 16. Graduated in Computer Science in 2020, Tim Nguyen, now a developer, had the opportunity to get involved in the club as a scientific mediator during her studies. Here, she addresses a letter to other graduates of the IC Faculty - and more broadly, to EPFL graduates - who would like to participate or support the Girls' Coding Club.

"In my graduating year (2020), there were only 36 girls out of 350, which is 10% of the graduating students. This observation reflects the underrepresentation of women in the fields of information and communication technologies (ICT). According to the FSO, in 2022, women accounted for only 17% of ICT professionals. Our field of study and our professions are still often constrained by gender stereotypes, which is unfortunate.

To address the underrepresentation of women in these fields and break these stereotypes, the Girls' Coding Club at EPFL was established to encourage girls aged 11 to 16 to develop their interest in ICT through fun workshops, both in-person and online. This club allows participants to build their confidence in their ability to grasp programming concepts, thanks to guidance and support from trained scientific mediators who are often EPFL students.

Once a year, the parents of these young girls are invited to the Swiss Coding Club Meetup to participate in a workshop alongside their daughters and engage in discussions with scientific mediators and mentors in these inclusive professions. These meetings and the resulting exchanges help spread our message and encourage parents to support their daughters in their personal choices.

I myself had the opportunity to become a scientific mediator during my studies at EPFL. It allowed me to mentor many teenagers and showed me the importance of my role. The Girls' Coding Club also relies on the crucial role of professionals who volunteer as mentors. These women share their journeys and become a source of inspiration. Their testimonies demonstrate that there are no preconceptions when it comes to pursuing studies or engaging in a career related to ICT. Today, I continue to facilitate online workshops for the club alongside my job as a computer engineer, and I occasionally act as a mentor to share my experience in this field.

The Girls' Coding Club actively seeks to enrich its workshops with personal testimonies from mentors who contribute for 30-40 minutes during one of our 100 annual workshops held on Saturdays in almost every canton of Switzerland. Currently, we have 50 volunteer mentors, and we would be thrilled to have you join us! Register now using this link.

If you lack the time but would like to support the club so that more girls in Switzerland can participate, we would be grateful if you could connect us with your employer or a contact in your network who could become one of our sponsors in a canton of their choice or throughout Switzerland. For more information, you can contact Catherine Janssens from the Philanthropy team at catherine.janssens@epfl.ch.

If you also have a philanthropic spirit and would like to provide financial support to the Girls' Coding Club, you can make a donation - every franc counts! Your generosity will help support girls who are interested in information and communication technologies like us. Donations can be made via the following link.

Thank you for considering the Girls' Coding Club, and I wish you all the best for the future. I hope to meet you soon as a mentor!

Best regards,

Tim Nguyen"