She++, Girls Who Code — Bridging the Gender Gap in Tech
Women, represent!
That’s what Reshma Saujani of Girls Who Code would like to achieve in technology. Aside from GWC, there’s also She++. Both are female-dominated organizations that teach high school and college girls computer programming. Their mission: bridge the gender gap in computer technology.
THE DEMAND
Did you know that in 2015, women held 57% of all professional occupations yet they only held 25% of computing occupations? Sadly, the number gets lower if you consider race and color, too.
Tech jobs are among the fastest growing in the U.S. yet women are being left behind. It is expected that in 2020, the demand for programmers will increase and it is expected that only 3% of these jobs will be taken by women.
GIRL POWER
That’s the reason why Girls Who Code and She++ work hard to empower women, dismantling the misconceptions and stereotypes in the industry. Women run the Internet. Women Facebook more; they tweet more; they make 85 percent of all consumer purchases online. So why should they not be sitting on the other side of the net?
Girls Who Code started with 20 girls in New York and now boasts of more than 40,000 girls in 50 states. With the resources and guidance, the girls experience firsthand how to program and solve problems by coding. Once they graduate, they pay it forward by becoming advocates. They reach out to their communities and schools.
Now, Girls Who Code and She++ partnered with big tech companies to employ women and join the workforce. Slowly but surely, these two organizations are paving the way to women in IT.