We have come into a time where all men and women are looking to find the right careers for themselves. However, women aren’t always respected the way men are in any industry. One career that women have been working hard to join into is the tech industry. The tech industry is a gender biased career and doesn’t always give women a fighting chance. More women are trying to break into the industry by creating organizations that are solely dedicated to teaching women and girls how to create, design, and develop technology.
Organizations such as ChickTech are all about welcoming women and girls into the field of technology. This organization helps women embrace technology as a prospective career option. ChickTech is a great example of a successful organization model. They work by taking young high school girls who are interested in the field of technology and giving them experience first hand through a year long program designed to help girls learn how to create their own technology through workshops and programs. Organizations like these help welcome women into the tech world with open arms.
For women who are interested in technical careers later in life, there are nonprofit organizations like Codes Scouts and Py ladies. These programs help women who are just starting out and need a helping hand. These programs are great because they are all about collaborative work space. They are meant to create software engineers with mentors who help set up individual learning plans and other members who are on similar tracks via a closed social network (Ham). They allow women a fighting chance to pursue technology.
With the help of these organizations, more women will be able to branch into technology and find fulfilling careers. By the year 2022, 1.2 million new computer programming jobs are expected to open up in the U.S. As of right now only 39% of those jobs will be filled by the appropriate computer science majors (Bram). We need more women to become interested in the field of technology as well as math, engineering, and science to help fill the rest of that 61%. There are multiple reasons why women don’t want to pursue tech based career but it all comes down to not enough women seeing themselves pursuing tech careers (Fordes). By encouraging early signs of interest in science and math in childhood, there is more potential for future development in these fields.
It’s important to get women and girls into tech at any age. However, if society nurtured technology based learning from an early age more girls would not feel the gender bias and would most likely feel comfortable exploring the tech industry.
Reference:
Ham, Robert. "TechfestNW 2013: Michelle Rowley." TechfestNW 2013: Michelle Rowley. N.p., 28 Aug. 2013. Web. 21 May 2014.
Bram, Thursday. "Attracting Girls to STEM: Four Ways Women in Tech Can Help." InformIT: The Trusted Technology Source for IT Pros and Developers. N.p., 13 May 2014. Web. 21 May 2014.
Fidelman, Mark. "Here's the Real Reason There Are Not More Women in Technology." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 05 June 2012. Web. 28 May 2014. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/markfidelman/2012/06/05/heres-the-real-reason-there-are-not-more-women-in-technology/>
