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Girls that code could help fix skills shortage bugging tech 

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Gates and Zuckerberg may only reinforce the notion of the coder being a geeky and socially awkward male. Some parents wouldn’t consider that their daughters could actually be coders, too. In fact, some believe encouraging them to learn how to write software could transform the socio-economic fabric of the world.

In recent weeks, Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook and author of Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead, told an audience in Pennsylvania: “A lot of kids code because they play games. Give your daughters computer games. Ask them to play them.” Giving kids this early start in computer science will pay off for the economy in the long run, Sandberg said.

Two-year-old CoderDojo movement, which James Whelton, a then-teenager from Cork, kickstarted to teach kids how to write software. The movement has since grown to see more than 16,000 kids in 26 countries gather to learn to how to write software on any given Saturday.

Black Girls Code

On the other side of the US, in San Francisco, California, Kimberly Bryant, an engineer, recognised that software had been creating new economies. Girls, in particular, were in danger of being left out, however.

Bryant founded Black Girls Code in 2011 to meet the needs of young black women who were underrepresented in the technology world, focusing on girls between the ages of 7 and 14. The movement is now active in seven US cities, as well as Johannesburg, South Africa. Every month, 1,000 girls learn the lingua franca of the 21st century.

“I founded Black Girls Code from my desire as a mother to find opportunities for my 12-year-old at the time to learn about computer programming and to make something rather than just playing video games,” Bryant said.

“I was looking for opportunities for her to grow and find out what her own interests and passions were around technology.”

Black Girls Code Founder Kimberly Bryant Gets White House Nod

Kimberly Bryant: I personally became interested in engineering as a high school student with the encouragement of my guidance counselors given my strong performance in math and science and the demand for students in the engineering field. I really had no direct knowledge of what an engineer “did” or if I really wanted to pursue engineering as a career. I eventually studied electrical engineering at Vanderbilt University. It was difficult but I just determined to make it through my studies. We also had a pretty strong support network within the school, so that helped.

I think that is the key to getting more kids of color interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by providing them with exposure to the many career choices STEM allows.

The Founder of `Black Girls CODE' Says Tech Design Needs More Female Voices

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