Essay Finalist … Annabelle White

Essay finalist Annabelle White from Whiteland Community High School in Whiteland, Indiana wrote a thought provoking essay as part of our high school essay contest. We were impressed for several reasons to include Annabelle’s: in-depth research into biases, her personal experience as it relates to technology and ethics, her tenacity and committment to bettering the future of ethics and technology with an inclusivity mindset.

We invite you to read Annabelle’s essay below.

Essay from Annabelle White:

"Moldy teeth!" burst out one of the girls. Giggles erupted around the room as she dodged the scattered desks on her way to my computer, assigning the value to the potionIngredient2 variable. Glancing around the classroom, I grinned at the sight of the girls immersed in creating their own variables in Scratch at our elementary school Girls Who Code club. “Who wants to add the next ingredient?”

Throughout my life, I have been drawn to numbers – from counting stairs in my school (72) to the hex code for my favorite color (#bf80ff) – so I immediately noticed the quantity of girls in my initial computer science class: one. I felt out of place, caught in a current that was too strong for me. My own experiences represent a broader societal problem: only 18% of computer science degrees are awarded to women, and women of color are even more severely underrepresented. Technology reflects this inequality. According to BBC News, a resume-screening algorithm used by Amazon taught itself that male candidates were preferable, disadvantaging women in the hiring process. When women are not involved in the development of technology, the technology itself fundamentally cannot serve everyone – and worse, it can even reinforce the barriers that keep women out.

I deepened my understanding of gender disparities in science and technology while interning at a biology lab. One day, my mentor showed me an unexpected discovery: a computer program had classified two batches of the same type of kidney cell as different.

Initially, nobody could explain the discrepancy until we realized that some were from males and some were from females. This moment opened my eyes to just how little we understand about the differences between sexes on a molecular level – a gap largely due to the historical exclusion of women from scientific research. This realization solidified my desire to study computer science and biology. I want to bridge this knowledge gap and ensure computational models in medical research account for sex differences, contributing to more inclusive and accurate scientific understanding.

Recognizing that these disparities began long before high school, I started an elementary Girls Who Code club to bring computer science to other female students. Differing from traditional coding clubs, my program focused on representation and community-building, addressing challenges specific to girls. I used block coding to teach logic concepts, challenging the girls to use coding to solve problems. By training machine learning models, the girls learned about real-world applications of artificial intelligence and explored its challenges, including bias and ethical concerns. I also designed fun activities to promote community, and I gave presentations on women working in STEM. Over the past three years, I have recruited volunteers to expand the program. So far, I have reached over 60 girls at five schools – nearly seven times the total number of girls across all of my high school’s computer science classes.

The girls talk about coding with excitement and confidence, and many are starting to explore STEM careers. While my initial goal was to bridge the gender gap in my school, teaching young girls to take risks, learn from mistakes, and explore their interests is having a much broader impact.

At a club meeting, I overheard two girls nervously discussing the fear of getting their periods in public. At the time, I laughed, thinking back to my own anxieties at their age. But, I couldn’t quite forget that conversation – and its broader implications. I began researching period poverty, learning that 10% of girls miss school due to being unable to afford essential products.

It hit me that this major, yet stigmatized and overlooked, barrier to education fueled the gender gap I was trying to address. I decided to develop FreePeriodProducts, a crowd-sourced database designed to connect people to local resources offering free menstrual products (free-period-products.onrender.com). With little coding experience, I struggled to learn web development on my own. I spent hundreds of hours writing code, completing tutorials, and researching solutions, looking forward to the day I could say my website worked. During March of my junior year, I entered a hackathon (software development competition), where I connected with an international team to help build the project. I designed the database, while my teammates helped with the user interface. Finally, after weeks of bugs and setbacks, I saw the message I had been waiting for: “Build Successful.” We placed 5th out of 80 projects. My idea was finally coming to fruition.

Unfortunately, when the hackathon ended, so did my team’s support. In a male-dominated field, few saw the need for my project – and even fewer were willing to discuss periods. One person called it “a waste of time” and told me to take it down because he couldn’t “believe we are talking about periods.” Even a female software developer publicly reprimanded me on Discord, saying that “periods are not an appropriate subject.” This criticism mirrors broader bias in STEM. For the first time, my confidence wavered. My outspokenness felt like a liability.

Despite the challenges, I couldn’t let the project go. My dedication to using technology for social good fueled my determination to push forward. I continued to update the website, reaching out to dozens of advocates and organizations to populate the database. So far, the website has reached twelve states. I have also won the Congressional App Challenge and will present my project at the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. next month.

I am committed to closing the gender gap, whether through outreach programs, software development, or conversations society deems “inappropriate” and a “waste of time.” I hope my work will inspire others to create inclusive environments for girls in computer science.

Parents and educators can teach girls about female role models and expose their daughters to STEM topics. Communities can help by raising awareness about systemic issues. By working together, we can ensure all girls have the opportunity to create “moldy teeth” variables.