Being a woman in tech can be difficult. On a daily basis, female programmers and techies face microaggressions, stereotypes, and a variety of other hurdles that their male coworkers don’t have to be subjected to. But one of the biggest ways that we can begin to close these gaps of gender inequality is by giving female coders the support systems that can help them thrive.
Women Who Code is helping to break that ceiling by helping female engineers get support to dive deeper in their careers.
The Women Who Code community – which includes over 50,000 members over 50 countries – help “female engineers achieve professional success, while inspiring them to be and become role models and heroes in the industry”, according to The Macro. And though other programs with similar foci have made their way to the tech community spotlight, Women Who Code push for a wider agenda: they want to see women thriving in multiple levels and spaces within tech – from entry-level positions to hiring managers and CEOs. Pushing for this kind of representation aids in ensuring the longevity of women that do enter the tech field.
Here’s what Women Who Code have shared about future plans for the company:
“Women Who Code has built a robust, engaged, international community that hosts thousands of technical events every year. They are now working on technology that will allow their members to receive custom content, and connect with each other before the start of conferences and events. Their long term plan is to build internal groups at large companies in order to help those organizations identify, promote and retain talented female engineers.”
As gender inequality continues to permeate throughout the industry as a persistent problem, it’s paramount that we reexamine the solutions that are in place to ensure the longevity of the women that enter the tech industry. Whether that means seeking qualified candidates from outside fields, to reshaping company policies from the inside out, these various solutions will help us to come together and ensure that diversity and inclusion remain at the forefront of our goals as tech continues to expand and grow.
Image Credit to WOCinTech / Flickr.