Non-Profit Organizations Working to Increase the Number of Women in CS
Image by Rani Shah
Written by Holly Zbierski
The gender gap in computer science is unfortunately far from being closed, but numerous non-profit organizations have been founded in the past century with this goal in mind. From sparking a girl’s interest in technology from a young age, to supporting her as she pursues further education, to preparing her for a career in a male-dominated field, there are countless stages along a woman’s journey in computer science for each of these groups to direct their efforts toward.
Early Education and Exposure: Black Girls Code and Girls Who Code
Black Girls Code and Girls Who Code are aimed at younger girls from elementary school to high school, a critical time for planting the seed of computing in their minds. Studies have shown that girls will be much less likely to consider computer science as an option for a major in college or potential career path if they have not had any experience with it previously. These non-profits’ work to expose girls to CS early is essential as it could lead to a passion in computing later.
Black Girls Code has a particular focus on this early approach: their coding lessons, hackathons, workshops, and other programs are geared toward young and pre-teen girls of color. They do this intentionally so that these girls are engaged with computing at an age “when they are naturally thinking about what they want to be when they grow up.” To eliminate any financial barriers, BGC offers scholarships to those interested in attending their events and provides each participant in their hackathons with their own computing hardware and supplies. Their work is extremely influential and increases young girls of color’s interest in technology and computer programming, which will hopefully translate to greater gender parity and racial equality in these fields.
Girls Who Code’s mission is to “educate, inspire, and equip young women with the skills and resources to pursue academic and career opportunities in computing fields.” To achieve this, they run clubs for girls in third to twelfth grade that provide coding courses ranging from beginner to advanced skill levels. For girls in grades 10 through 12, GWC offers a two-week Summer Immersion program to give them coding experience and exposure to tech jobs as they begin to prepare themselves for a future in computing. Once these girls enter college, GWC continues to be there for them, this time with campus clubs for connecting like-minded young women with one another and creating supportive, motivating communities.
GWC also definitely understands that making CS less intimidating to young girls can be done by highlighting the creative potential within it. Their most recent collaboration with Doja Cat to make her music video for “Woman” customizable through coding is just one example of the incredible work they are doing to expose younger generations to the fun and excitement of coding!
Professional Support and Career
Beyond high school, women pursuing higher education and careers in computer science most definitely need continued support to keep them motivated and inspired as they overcome the obstacles in their way. Biased male classmates, professors, and employers can all be significant setbacks that may even make a woman doubt herself at times, but organizations like the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and Women Who Code are determined to prevent that from happening by fostering positive environments to boost women’s confidence in themselves and their abilities.
With over 400 collegiate and professional sections across the U.S., SWE has been committed to carving out space for and amplifying the voices of women in computing and engineering fields. They emphasize the role of higher education in achieving professional goals, as well as strive to honor the contributions and successes of women at all stages of their careers. SWE understands how much perseverance women in CS are required to have and wish to continue to advance their leadership and professional distinction among society.
Women Who Code more specifically focuses on doing everything they can to reach proportionate representation for women in technology, with their work spanning from educating companies to developing talented, employable female engineers. Like SWE, they continually applaud the achievements of women in computing and have built a powerful community for empowerment, mentoring, and networking. Perhaps their greatest success is their active job board, which connects their members to meaningful career opportunities from companies looking for exactly the kind of skilled women WWC represents!
Sources:
https://www.womenwhocode.com/about
http://www.seas.columbia.edu/swe/
http://www.womenintech.com/top-ten-women-in-tech-organizations/