It is no secret that the tech industry has always consisted of predominantly men. Women just are not that interested in tech like men are. There has been a shift in interest in recent years but the divide is still quite wide. Research shows that getting girls interested in technology at a young age helps with the gender gap and that is exactly what Girls Who Code (GWC) is aiming to achieve.
Reshma Saujani, who was previously Deputy Public Advocate for New York City, started this non-profit organization and it aims to get girls stared on technology at a young age and teach them how to code.
The organization has gained a lot of traction and support from various companies, including Accenture, a firm which provides professional services who has already made a $500,000 donation to the organization will also help host multiple GWC events this summer to help develop the next generation of tech talent.
Paul Daugherty, Accenture’s CTO, says that it’s especially important to promote gender diversity in the industry and that companies can loan their tremendous base of resources to help fix the problem.
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Accenture sponsors an internship and job program for the girls once they enter college. “There is a drop off when the girls get to college” says Daugherty. Accenture is trying circumvent that by providing opportunities for internships and jobs in college. This, in turn, will help develop a healthy roster of tech talent at the firm.
The program is not limited to just coding however as Accenture also provides sessions on drones, robotics and web development among many other topics. The girls also learn essential skills like confidence building and are exposed to both male and female role models in the industry.
One of the girls who participated in the program said “Seeing that this program is dominant of girls, it makes you want to code even more” she says.
“Just because it’s male dominant, why should I just sit back and let them do the work?” she says.
This feature was researched from Fox Business.
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