TYLER, Texas — The tech landscape is an area of great opportunity for those who possess a computer science degree.
Currently, women only make up 18 percent of those with such degrees. Programs like "Girls Who Code" at the City of Tyler's Innovation Pipeline are looking to change that.
Their target audience is girls between the 3rd and 5th grades.
The Innovation Pipeline is in their second semester of "Girls Who Code," a program funded by a nonprofit of the same name that teaches children how to manipulate computer software to build an app.
"What were doing is basically just trying to do our part to help girls in the East Texas area have access to coding classes and technology," Innovation Pipeline manager Veronica Brady said.
Classes take place every Monday at 6:30 p.m. All materials are provided for the free class.
The initiative of "Girls Who Code" is to get girls more involved in science and technology-centered fields.
"[Tech is] a really male dominated industry and so it’s important for us to facilitate opportunities and times for girls to be with other girls that are interested in the same type of tech activities," Brady said. "And it’s also important for us to be able to guide them and help them know like, 'Hey this is a really fun avenue this is a fun career path, and you can be successful with it if you want to be.'"
While the program is called "Girls Who Code, the Innovation Pipeline is accepting anyone in the designated age group for the program.
"Girls Who Code" caps their class size at 20 students and they still have room for the spring semester, which will finish in May.
To sign up, you can visit the Innovation Pipeline website.