For decades, there has been a major gender diversity gap in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The tech world as we know it, is male dominated with little female representation in leadership roles. In 2014, The National Center for Women in Technology (NCWIT) revealed, a mere 18% of all computer and information science degrees were held by women. Women also make up just 26% of professional computing occupations, while only about 15% have at least one female founder. Leaders in the industry are acknowledging the gender deficit and have been encouraging women to join the industry.
Girls Who Code has been on the front line of the revolution. Just this past year, the nonprofit organization aiming to close the gender gap in technology taught a whopping 10,000 young women software skills across 40 States. Founder Reshma Saujani, a former New York City public advocate, discovered her mission while running for Congress in 2010. Saujani tells Teen Vogue, "In that journey, I was going to classrooms full of boys. Whether it was a robotics class, or a computer science class, I looked around and asked myself, 'Where are the girls?’”
To really answer that question, you have to go beyond Silicon Valley. Research shows there’s disconnect in the pipeline that funnels women to tech and it happens very early on. It turns out that 74% of girls actually express interest in technology in middle school, but only 0.3% of high school girls choose STEM as a college major.
“I think a lot of it has to do with culture,” says Saujani. “In the '80s, society created a caricature of what a hacker, or a programmer looked like: a guy wearing a hoodie, drinking energy drinks, sitting in a basement somewhere coding. Today, programmers look like the men we see in the show, Silicon Valley on HBO. If you look at the message girls are getting, it’s saying: 'This is not for you. You are not good enough.’ And they are listening and opting out,” Saujuni contines.
These gender stereotypes can affect the confidence of teen girls who may be curious about technology, but feel insecure entering a realm where there are few role models who look like them. Seventeen-year-old Tai Cruz, a self-taught graphic designer and a 2015 alum of GWC, experienced this firsthand prior to joining the all-girls organization. Tai tells Teen Vogue, “In the 10th grade, I entered a co-ed computer programming course. I was one of only two or three girls in the whole class. So it was pretty intimidating to participate in the group discussions. I was afraid to raise my hand, but I didn’t understand why. I was never the type of person to be afraid of asking questions.” Tai compared her experience to GWC saying, “Girls Who Code was an environment where everyone felt safe. We realized that we all learn at different paces and we need to be there for each other.”
GWC’s summer immersion program is a seven-week intensive that focuses on group-oriented computer science projects that give students real world exposure and mentoring. This year's summer immersion program will provide $1 million in scholarships to allow girls in underserved communities to attend. Just recently, the organization scored $2.7 million in funding from the Prudential Foundation, Adobe, and AT&T to establish an alumni network that will help former members find jobs and stay in touch. And last October they announced that more than 20 large companies have pledged to share paid internships as part of the organization's "Hire Me" campaign. Removing the feeling of isolation that girls in tech often feel could very well be the secret force behind its success and other tech organizations should take note.
“It’s like the ultimate girls' club,” says Saujani. “One of the benefits of this girl-authentic movement is that they see other girls who think [tech] is awesome and it makes them want to learn how to do it, too,” she finishes.
Teen girls entering tech are facing high stakes. Without the push to increase women in tech, they are potentially missing out on a huge opportunity. The U.S. Department of Labor expects 1.3 million computer and math-related job openings by 2022. This could be a chance to earn high incomes in a fast-growing industry. And studies show that tech companies lacking gender diversity are also at a disadvantage. According the National Center for Women & Information Technology, "Teams with equal numbers of men and women were more likely to experiment, be creative, share knowledge, and fulfill tasks than teams with any other composition.”
JJ DiGeronimo, a tech industry expert and founder of Tech Savvy Women, has worked with high school students for years and noticed the many benefits any company would experience if they had more women in their ranks. She tells Teen Vogue, "Women think on the basis of functionality, feasibility, and long-term benefit. And not that men don’t think about this too, but women are more focused on the creative value of the long term.”
These common and positive goals are also what you'll find among any of the bright young innovators chosen in GWC’s program. Eighteen-year old Amanda Harris, a 2015 GWC alum, was one of three girls who created GapJumper, a game app aimed at bringing awareness to America’s gender wage disparity. "We were in such shock that people actually played our game.” Amanda tells Teen Vogue. "A lot of the people who were playing the game were female and many of them didn’t know about the wage gap and how much it affected them. So it gave us so much pride and happiness to know we were educating them and making a difference," she says.
The feeling of accomplishing goals and actualizing a bigger purpose is pushing many of the GWC girls to want to continue in a field where there are immense possibilities. The summer immersion program impressively has 90% of its graduates declaring or intending to declare majors or minors in computer science. "If you are the only girl in a class full of guys coding, be confident,” says 15–year-old Natalie Wexler, a current GWC student who is now working on developing her own app. She tells Teen Vogue, “One of the quotes I think embodies being able to challenge the gender gap in tech is the Audrey Hepburn quote that says, 'Nothing is impossible. The word itself says I’m possible.’”
Check out Teen Vogue’s February issue cover star, Amandla Stenberg.