CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article identified Rachel Yuan by the incorrect pronoun. Yuan's pronouns are they/them. The story has been udpated with the correct pronouns. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for this error.
As a first-year, senior Rachel Yuan thought they wanted to double major in computer science and biology, but after Pearl Hacks' hackathon, they realized they were right where they belonged.
Pearl Hacks, an annual coding competition (hackathon) that promotes an inclusive environment for female and non-binary students interested in computer science, begins Feb.16 in UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.
The competition, created by UNC student Maegan Clawges in 2014, started so women could have a female-majority hackathon. Computer programing is a heavily male dominated field; from 1984 to 2014 the percentage of computer science majors that identify as women dropped from 37 to 18. Clawges felt a need to create her own hackathon to attract female hackers and their friends.
Pearl Hacks has expanded over the years, with an increasing number of participants from other universities. The rising amount of sponsorships and mentors gives networking opportunities for an underrepresented minority to learn and grow in computer science.
The UNC Department of Computer Science supports the event's goal of making students feel included in the computer science field. Hope Woodhouse, events and outreach specialist for the computer science department, understands the importance of the event for minority students.
“We hear from a lot of the students who attend that even though UNC has 26 percent (of female computer science majors), that’s still you know, when you are in class you know it still seems like a pretty small amount,” Woodhouse said. “So being able to provide an environment where you feel that you are not the minority is really powerful for them to see that they are not the only one in the field."
The current executive committee for Pearl Hacks hopes to keep it a place for women and non-binary students to explore computer science and network with companies like Google or Microsoft. Yuan, sponsoring director of Pearl Hacks, thinks it presents a positive space for female and non-binary students.
“The tech industry is notoriously very male focused,” Yuan said. “And so having these spaces that empower women and non-binary people genders that are underrepresented helps them find people like them and also gives them confidence to step forward in the more male dominated fields.”
