The participation of women in coding is the need of the hour to bridge the gender gap that exists in tech jobs in today’s world. The technology field is a male-dominated one. After looking at the number of women making a career in tech and STEM fields across the world, there is a lot to be desired.
Here are some mind-boggling statistics that are a reflection of the underrepresentation of women in tech.
- The percentage of women in the IT industry is merely 26 percent in India.
- According to research conducted by Mastercard, 93 percent of girls in school consider a career in tech. However, this percentage drops drastically till they reach graduation.
- The Indian corporate system has only 11 percent women in the senior leadership roles.
- According to UNESCO, women represent less than one-third of the global average of STEM workers.
- In the United States, women form only 26 percent of the workforce in computing.
It is a fact that even though women choose STEM learning courses, they are not pursuing a career in tech moving forward.
However, according to the World Bank data, what is promising is there are more women STEM graduates in India (43 percent) at the tertiary level compared to developed countries like the UK, USA, France, and Germany, where the percentage is quite low.
Active participation of women in tech is essential to break the stereotypes
- The programming and tech field is missing something big, active participation of women in tech jobs.
- With the rise in the number of coding jobs and opportunities, it is time for women to learn how to code.
- When women learn coding, it opens up more career opportunities for a career in tech.
- At present, coding is the need of the hour to change the stereotype of IT being a male-dominated field.
- It is essential to increase gender equality in the STEM field so that the industry gets more women leaders.
Why should women learn how to code?
Coding is the new literacy
- Just like two decades ago, reading and writing text was crucial, coding is the new literacy in today’s world.
- It is important for women to know how to code in order to make a career in tech.
- Coding has become the new normal in today’s tech-savvy world.
Better work-life balance
- Just like technology, the work normal is changing drastically after the pandemic.
- Work from home and remote working have become the new normal, especially in the IT industry.
- By learning coding, women can adopt remote work, which provides greater flexibility to them.
- The remote work option in tech jobs gives them the opportunity to be at home with their family and young children, or to see their aging parents.
- There are many companies offering part-time tech jobs as well.
- With a flexible work schedule, women in coding can get a better work-life balance while making a career in tech.
Overcome challenges fearlessly
- Women in coding learn how to be courageous and fearless when dealing with challenges head-on, just like men.
- Learning to write codes gives women a chance to learn from their own mistakes and tackle various challenges in programming by applying logical reasoning and critical thinking skills.
Qualities that women need to possess to become a successful coder
Creativity
- If you are a woman who wants to make it big in the technology industry, you need to have strong creativity skills.
- Sometimes, a problem may be too complex and challenging to solve. In order to crack the code, creativity and innovation may be needed from the coders.
Ready-to-learn approach
- The technology industry is changing rapidly, with new technologies coming up quickly.
- Although the basics of programming and coding remain the same, the technology that you may be using right now may not be the same next year.
- Women in coding need to have the hunger to learn new technologies and tools in order to be competitive.
Communication skills
- A career in tech is not just about how to write codes and develop software.
- Women in coding need to have excellent communication skills in order to talk effectively with business owners and other team members.
Team player
- When it comes to a career in tech, coding is not a solo job.
- The success of a project depends on team-work.
- Women in coding need to be team players, coordinate with other team members, and sometimes even work in pairs with other coders.
- Effective collaboration with the team is essential for the success of a project in the tech industry.
Indian Mamas {Code} – An online course for young mothers to begin their coding journey
- A major question in front of women is how to learn coding? There are several online courses, webinars, and training session conducted online
- One such course from the AI School of India is the Indian Mama’s Code Artificial Intelligence Online course.
- This course makes it easy and convenient for young mothers to start their journey into coding.
- Mothers from different backgrounds can easily learn how to code with confidence.
- Also, young mothers get to interact and collaborate with fellow mothers who are also a part of this course.
This course consists of various modules, each having a different number of sessions. These include:
- AI with scratch coding (5 sessions)
- Hello AI (14 sessions)
- Explore AI (14 sessions)
- Discover AI (14 sessions)
- Elements of AI (5 sessions)
- Fun AI with scratch (5 sessions)
- Meet 2ring.AI (5 sessions)
- AI Novus (24 sessions)
Coding is fun-learning for young children, and many girls are introduced to it as a part of the STEM curriculum adopted by most schools in India. Women representation and participation in STEM and related fields is required for more women to emerge as leaders in the industry.
