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Interview with founder Rida Bayraktar
Q & A
As a woman in computer science, I have faced many challenges that compelled me to take on this issue. After getting involved in robotics and computer science in high school, I realized that my male peers already had an exposure to these fields from their childhood. I was lacking this exposure because I was raised with ‘girly’ concepts rather than STEM. This caused me to fall behind my peers and lose my confidence. Eventually, I was able to go beyond them with my passion in the field, but I struggled a lot through the process. Therefore, I am compelled to educate the girls about STEM at a young age so that they don’t go through the same struggles as mine.
As a woman in computer science, I have faced many challenges that compelled me to take on this issue. After getting involved in robotics and computer science in high school, I realized that my male peers already had an exposure to these fields from their childhood. I was lacking this exposure because I was raised with ‘girly’ concepts rather than STEM. This caused me to fall behind my peers and lose my confidence. Eventually, I was able to go beyond them with my passion in the field, but I struggled a lot through the process. Therefore, I am compelled to educate the girls about STEM at a young age so that they don’t go through the same struggles as mine.
In 2020, we were awarded the Bryan fellowship and Kenan Biddle Partnership which had a significant impact on establishing our initiative. CUBE is a next step for us to accelerate our growth with the incredible mentorship and resources of the Campus Y.
During our CUBE residency, we are planning to become a nonprofit organization and grow our impact on a national and international level. We are also looking forward to meeting and working with the other ventures in the cohort to learn from each other.
The social impact we want to create is to have environments, games, toys, courses, and resources for girls for them to have exposure to STEM at an early age. This will make them interested in STEM, increase their confidence, and motivate them to pursue STEM careers in the future.
I feel entrepreneurship gives me confidence and power. I have an input in society and in the world. The moment is now, and I am working to make the most out of it for myself and for the people around me.