Girls Who Code

Girls Changing the Tech World, One Girl At a Time

Are girls changing the world? I was a Marketing and Communications major at the University of Florida and let me be the first to tell you, there are other classes I would recommend tying into your major. One of these classes would definitely be basic coding. Remember the days when you would use <br> to customize your Myspace page? If only we kept up with that as it is very useful for your career. Adding a coding certification to your resume will likely grab the attention of employers who may have skipped over your resume without it. Enter Girls Who Code – an organization at universities who teach you how to code, but more in a club setting rather than a classroom.

HaveUHeard that there was a time when women dominated the coding field? You’d have to go back to the 1940s when women worked as punch-card operators and wrote programs. That all changed in the 80s and the advent of computers (about the time I went to college). As a journalism major, I did not need to know any type of programming but those in accounting, finance, and business (not to mention computer science and computer engineering) had to take Cobol. I remember them carrying around their Cobol deck of punched cards.

Thankfully there has been a rapid rise in females majoring in computer science. You now have organizations like Girls Who Code, Black Girls Code, and Code Newbie. Add in the popular Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat and smartphones, and other creative software and smartphone apps, and you can see why women are looking at computer science degrees.

In fact, in 2017, it was three high school girls from New Jersey who won the grand prize at Disrupt NY 2017 Hackathon. One of the high school girls wore a shirt that read “Who Hack the World? Girls – you can get other Who Hack the World products for the female coders in your life. If you have a female student majoring in computer science or just looking to add some computer programming classes to their major, they should look to get involved in the many chapters of GirlsWhoCode college clubs or one of the many other organizations that support women pursuing careers in computer programming.

In addition to choosing a major, students may want to add some skills like mastering Photoshop, Google-drive, Zoom, data analysis, computer programming, proficiency in a second (or third) language. There are many certificate programs that can be done outside of college classes that can only enhance your employability. Increasing your knowledge escalates your value to potential employers. And, yes, while women still face barriers and biases and pay gaps in the STEM fields, there is some optimism that advocacy groups are making headway into closing those gaps through legislation and policy.

Here is a look at the top 50 Women in the Tech Industry Every Man Should Know.

As a girl mom, we owe it to our daughters to encourage them to advocate for themselves, to work in fields they love, and to continue to break through those glass ceilings.

Pass on these great tips, tell your friends and like us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. Find out more about how to use HaveUHeard as a great resource. Sign up for other great tips at haveuheard.com.