NIT Rourkela's Shecoders is a girls-only coding club that is killing it
You know how they say if you can't beat them, join them? But what if you can't do the latter either? What if you are a group of girls passionate about coding, haven't yet learnt the ropes, but are seeking admission in a club predominantly filled with boys? Chances are, your underconfidence or just the fact that there will be no one from the same gender as yours, might keep you at bay.
They usually discuss the workings of the club on Discord and Slack. Also, an online webinar on Diversity in Tech was conducted on September 11, 2020
To put an end to the quandary at NIT Rourkela once and for all, Sushree Satarupa started Shecoders in June 2020. "When I spoke to a few girls, they were also afraid of being rejected after applying to those clubs. Hence, Shecoders is open to all women, no questions asked," says the 20-year-old.
Sushree Satarupa | (Pic: Shecoders)
Sushree has been a part of various international coding clubs like the Major League Hacking (MLH), a company that runs a league for student hackathons and Women In Tech, a movement to encourage women in tech. With MLH, she even helped develop the software of a shirt that warms up, just like a hot water bag, to ease period cramps. "Actually, I have been contributing to such coding projects since I was in class IX because I have always been encouraged in this direction. That's why I really wanted to start something like this for others too," she shares. Clearly, the Rourkela-born student is familiar with how a club works.
In the online sessions, a presentation is used to make the points clear and also so that the girls can take notes if they wish
"The plan was to sharpen our learning community basics first. So we initially focused on C, C++ and other elementary languages," says the Computer Science student. So they started with coding classes leveraging the power of YouTube Premium. Every Sunday for about half an hour, a senior would take the session which was followed by an even more vigorous doubt-clearing session. "I took help from my seniors initially because I wasn't confident about handling the sessions myself. But since this year started, I have taken over," she says with a smile.
Core team | (Pic: Shecoders)
They have about 100 members out of which 40 to 50 watch the live stream while others catch up with it later. Now that they have almost covered their bases, they are soon going to move to conduct web and app development classes. Also, every Saturday, a simple test is conducted on Google Forms to assess how much the girls have retained from their previous session.
Though there is no 'base' requirement to join the club, if you want to work for the club, you'll have to pass a test to be a part of their organising team which includes content creators, teachers, designers and so on. Because running a club is hard work. "My vision is that as the club grows, we want to participate as a team in hackathons and other competitions," says a hopeful Sushree.
Catch up with their sessions:
- Tutorial - 3 - 2D Array | youtu.be/Nj3eOdNEfPo
- Tutorial - 6 - Dynamic Memory | youtu.be/2TWDMxMfI3U
- C++:3 | youtu.be/OLegPeKueD4
For more on them, check out bit.ly/SHECODERS
