By 2020, there will be one million more tech jobs than there are people with the skills to fill them.
Because of this, there’s been an increased focus on getting students interested in these fields.
Even more so is the focus on getting female students interested involved. The government and academic institutions have acknowledged there is a lack of female representation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics).
In fact, only 16% of computer science degree graduates are women.
It’s the reason why developers Ally Watson and Marcellina Mardian founded Code Like A Girl, after feeling marginalised and under-represented in the male-dominated IT industry.
The name of the business itself tackles this issue. 'Like a girl' has always been an insult, but Ally and Marcellina take back the power and use it to empower women instead.
“There needs to be more diversity in technology. The people creating the solutions need to come from different backgrounds in order to produce the best results and the best products.”
Founders Ally and Marcellina want to encourage women of all ages to get into coding and tech. Source: Supplied
They both know how important it is for the next generations in terms of employability. “Future is tech – whether you want to work in health or whether you want to work in sport, there’s always a tech element to it, so it could really take you anywhere from being a website developer, or app developer, or starting your own startup,” says Marcellina.
Code Like A girl has a network of over 100 young women, where they collaborate, support each other, and share their passion for wed development. They don't discriminate against career levels either. Code Like A Girl is open to all women, regardless of whether they're starting uni, or looking to get into leadership roles in the industry.
International student Cheng Chua is a part of the network, joining it after seeing it advertised at her university. “A lot of girls like me want to get into coding, but they feel a bit intimidated because it’s such a guy-dominated field.
Marcellina says learning tech skills is key, because tech is the way of the future. Source: Supplied
Ally and Marcellina plan to take Code Like A Girl into primary schools and high schools.
Ally says, “What we’d love to be for girls is a support network – we will engage them at a young age and we’ll continue to provide them services throughout their whole career."
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