You Code Like A Girl

According to the website Girls Who Code in 2014 women represent 12% of all computer science graduates. Compare this to 1984, when they represented 37% of all computer science graduates, and you will understand why Google has launched a new initiative just this week to attempt to close the gender 'canyon', I suppose you might say. 

If you've ever been in a tech company, gender disparity in the office is as clear as day. It makes no sense why more women aren't working in a sector where the work is engaging and well-paid. 

Google wants to change this. This week they have launched a new initiative called Made With Code, and has similar aims to Girls Who Code, another initiative aimed at getting girls involved in technology.  

“In middle school, 74% of girls express interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), but when choosing a college major, just 0.3% of high school girls select computer science.” Girls Who Code

 

Google X EVP Megan Smith explained that there is often no clear path for girls who may be interested in coding, and the idea behind the website is to show girls the ways that coding is related to their passions, whether it is medicine, fashion, apps or music.

The website will have a host of coding resources and act as a discussion platform where fellow coders can talk to each other and female mentors in the coding world. This will hopefully attract girls to consider a career in coding, an industru with plentiful job opportunities.

Over the next three years Google will invest $50 million into the programme. Made With Code also has a host of partners to nurture the project, including MIT Media Lab, Girl Scouts of the USA, Girls Who Code, the National Center for Women and Information Technology, and TechCrunch. 

Women account for 46% of the traffic on our website, so it's time to debunk the misconception that women aren't into tech.