The most recent reports of the National Center for Women and Information Technology show that women have accounted for more than half the workforce since 2003. They still make up about 25% of the computing workforce. These are troubling statistics. What can we do to close the gender gap? Is there a program that helps women to get jobs in information tech?
Structural barriers are the main reason women leave STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).
- Isolation
- Unconscious bias
- Promotional processes
- Relationships with supervisors
- Competing life responsibilities
Many women experience a career’stall’. A stall is when an individual stops being promoted, receives additional responsibilities or progresses in their career. All races of women have felt stuck in STEM careers.
Numerous organizations have created programs to assist women in IT jobs. This is a step in the right direction. This post highlights the most important.
Anita Borg Institute
Anita Borg, a 1997 founder of the Institute for Women and Technology (IWT), created it. It is a non-profit organization whose purpose it is to increase the representation of females in technology. Anita Borg declared that women must take their place at the table to create the technology of the future.
The Institute was renamed to the Anita Borg Institute in 2003 after Anita died from cancer. The organization offers awards programs for women technologists who are distinguished, as well as access to computing communities, events, scholarships and information.
The annual competition PITCHER OF PitchHER allows female entrepreneurs to apply for funding to fund their ideas. As long as the applicants meet all criteria, the competition will support both for-profit and nonprofit startups.
The Anita Borg Institute offers year-round opportunities for women to grow professionally, find mentors and inspire one another.
Black Girls Code
Women of color account for about 11% of the computing workforce. This is despite women making up 25% of the total. Hispanic/Latina women are also among the most underrepresented groups. Black Girls Code is determined change this by giving girls of color 7-17 the opportunity to be the next STEM leaders.
Kimberly Bryant is the founder of Black Girls Code. She recalls feeling culturally isolated during her school years because no one of her classmates was like her. Kimberly Bryant decided to start a nonprofit that provides essential skills to girls of colour during a time in their lives when they are deciding what career they want.
The organization offers conferences, workshops, summits, as well as scholarships for young black women who program. You don’t need to meet any arbitrary criteria to receive the scholarships.
Black Girls Code’s official motto has been “Imagine.” Build. This organization is working hard to reduce the digital divide.
Catalyst
Silicon Valley released diversity figures in 2014 that were not very promising. It was clear that the majority of computing workers are white men. These statistics needed to be taken seriously. Change Catalyst was created as a result of these numbers.
Change Catalyst CEO Melinda Briana Epler says that Change Catalyst has an ecosystem approach. It addresses the cultural and structural problems of the entire tech ecosystem, and focuses on the solution. Change Catalyst focuses on educating stakeholders in order to promote actual change.
Change Catalyst organizes summits, career fairs and roundtables. They work with governments, tech hubs and companies to diversify their workforce. They also provide a variety of online and offline resources for those who want to get started in IT. The Startup Fellows Program funds businesses that include women-led startups and projects.
Girl Make It
Girl Develop It, another addition to the list of non-profit organizations, was established in 2017 by Vanessa Hurst (a computer programmer and teacher) and Sara Chipps (a JavaScript developer). Girl Develop It’s mission is to offer affordable programs for women of all backgrounds, income levels, and backgrounds.
Girl Develop It provides hands-on classes that allow participants to learn how to create websites and other types of applications. The courses cover HTML and CSS, JavaScript and Angular.js as well as PHP/MySQL and other topics. These courses are not for advanced learners. It should suffice to provide a solid foundation for anyone who is just beginning in computer science.
This organization does not only focus on women in STEM. They also welcome non-binary adults interested in learning software development.
Girls Who Cod
Girls Who Code is a non-profit organization that aims to eliminate gender inequalities in entry-level technology jobs by 2027. Their main goal is to make programming more attractive and inclusive. Girls Who Code teaches girls and women how to code as well as prepares them for a career in the tech industry.
After-school clubs for girls in the 3rd-12th grades offer programming language learning opportunities in a fun and engaging environment. The online programs are for school girls in grades 10-12. They offer two week-long courses that can be accessed online. These programs expose girls to tech careers in the future.
Girls Who Code offers college programs for girls 18 and older. These young women will be able to form a community of women in technology.
Women Who Cod
Women Who Code is an organization that helps women excel in technology careers. This organization is dedicated to creating a future in which women are more represented as founders, executives, VCs, tech leaders, and software engineers.
WWC provides coding resources, including tutorials, videos and articles. The WWC seeks leadership opportunities for its members and organizes more than 1900 global events each year to ensure that every woman has the opportunity to improve her technical skills.
Women Who Code also has a $1 million annual budget that they distribute in scholarships and conference tickets. Through their #ApplaudHer campaign, you can also submit acknowledgements for yourself and other women in computing. ApplaudHer celebrates women who have received promotions, new jobs, or who learned a new programming languages.
TechGirls and TechWomen
The US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs created the TechGirls and TechWomen programmes.
TechGirls supports young women interested in science and technology as a summer program. The program was developed in the USA, but it is open to candidates from Central Asia and the Middle East. Summer camps, which last for a week, are the core of the program and allow participants to explore coding and cybersecurity as well as other activities.
TechWomen, a similar organization that focuses on older women from the same regions around the world, is an example of a similar organization. It is a mentorship program for five weeks that provides women with access to resources and networking opportunities that will enable them to be leaders in any STEM field.
These organizations are for women and girls. They aim to increase the female tech community, and to allow women from all backgrounds and ages to learn from one another.
Conclusion
Despite the fact that tech jobs are sadly lacking in female representation it is slowly improving. The tech industry’s dismal diversity numbers are slowly changing thanks to dozens of programs that help women get information technology jobs.
You can pursue your career goals relentlessly if you’re a woman seeking a job in science, engineering, computing or another related field. Although it is not easy, there are many organizations that support hardworking and powerful women like you. You can take a look at the list and reach out to any of them. They were created with the sole purpose to encourage women and girls to get into tech.