V Code Project Leaders describe the process of running a volunteering project from start to finish and the positive impact it can have for yourself and others.
Following a sucessful event this weekend at the University of Bath, which saw over 23 young girls attend a Coding Bootcamp where they learned coding skills from student volunteers and heard from a range of professional women working in STEM realated careers, Project Leaders, Rosie Barrett and Ciara Sherlock reflects on what it takes to lead a sucessful project.
What is Project V Code?
You may be wondering what Project V Code is, and in short the project aims to support girls to consider a career in tech and STEM subjects by teaching them how to code. The project works in collaboration with Mighty Girls, who are experienced in promoting healthy emotional, physical and mental well-being in young women and girls. Our partnership with them is rooted in the passion and desire to reduce the barriers presented by pursuing STEM subjects and careers and help girls make an informed decision on the future, not bound by societal stereotypes, lack of representation or support.
When did the project begin?
This year was Project V Code’s first time going ahead in 2/3 years due to several circumstances making it difficult to go ahead. This meant me and Rosie did not have a lot to go off of so we had to start from scratch. However, the project began on September 7th once me and Rosie were appointment project leaders, and we were predominantly working onwards the V Code Bootcamp date of 11th February. However, the project will be ongoing to other activities until the end of the academic year.
Why was Project V Code formed?
This project was not created for the sole purpose of creating volunteering opportunities for students, instead it was formed to make an impact on reducing the issues girls and women face when pursuing STEM-based subjects and career paths. Typical issues girls face include imposter syndrome, lack of representation, bullying, and much more.
To give you an idea of the severity of this issue, despite the percentage of female graduates with core STEM degrees steadily growing, the split is still just 26%. This figure is also translated in the female STEM workforce, with women only making up 24%. The reason we chose to focus on teaching girls how to code, is because computer science and technology fields have shown the largest gender imbalances, from current students, to graduates and the workforce figures. Whereas subjects such as physical-science related degrees have seen a year-on-year increase in the number of female graduates, showing that efforts to encourage women to study chemistry and physics-based subjects have been successful.
Who is apart of Project V Code?
Team V Code included 25 volunteers, which included current students and industry professionals. Our team were vital to ensure we had a range of representation for our V-Coders to look up to, alongside ensuring our V-Coders were safe while on campus.
It takes a team to make a project like this sucessful and V Code would like ot say thanks to all who have been involved!
Project Leaders:
- Marsha Mars (Mighty Girls)
- Ciara Sherlock (V Team Bath)
- Rosie Barnett (V Team Bath)
Goody Bag Volunteers:
- Lucy Edwards
- Tiana Keogh
- Mariama Sankareh
- Elias De Cascarejo E Ponte
Career Panellists:
- Natasha Qayyum (Risk BI at GoCardless)
- Samekah Howard (Quality Engineer at Kingfisher PLC (Through FutureProof)
- Jenny Fletcher (Senior Customer Success Partner, SAP Fieldglass)
- Kate Aldridge (EDI Director at England and Wales Cricket Board)
Bootcamp Volunteers:
- Sam Briggs (Volunteer Photographer)
- Asia Burska
- Nicole Leung
- Anoushka Vallabh
- Simran Barve
- Isabella Mullings Wong
- Carissa Choi
- Alfie Downing
- Niloufar Saffari
- Jemima Poynton
- Ahbab Ali
- Winnie Chen
- Ri Vass
- Tiana Keogh