Women and Coding have a long History!

They say “history repeats itself”. True. Time and space may alter, but that history which is long forgotten, is sure to revive. Saying that, the coding world is no exception to this rule. Today, various initiatives are being taken to encourage women to start coding. The notion of coding being a “guy’s thing” has undergone a major renaissance. But we surely have forgotten that women and coding is not a new phenomenon. On the contrary, it was women who pioneered in computer programming.

As early as 1840s, it was Ada Lovelace, Lord Bryon’s daughter, who has computer programming to her credits. Walter Isaacson’s book “The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution” traces the journey of digital revolutionists like Vannevar Brush, Alan turing, John von Neumann, J.C.R. Licklider, Doug Engelbart, Robert Noyce, Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, Tim Berners-Lee, and Larry Page. This book opens with the story of the Ada Lovelace- the woman who ditched poetry at an early age to become the pioneer of computer programming.

It was a time then, when girls were more into mathematics while guys preferred to tinker with the hardware. Believing that computers can solve complicated mathematics calculations paved the way to the black and white coding world. Since most women were majors in mathematics, it isn't surprising that women had the upper hand in coding, back then.

Slowly, the curve saw its downfall. While women mathematics major was common in 1930s, with time the graph saw a steady movement downhill! It was clear that computer programming can give instructions in English to the computer and compile whatever hardware it is. Coding became a rage suddenly. Computer Science degrees became popular. All of a sudden, the whole scenario changed- Boys who preferred to fidget with hardware at home, shifted to programming. Without much ado, coding became a “boy thing” because “they looked like better candidates for coding than girls”. Janet Abbate, professor at Virginia Tech had quoted “It’s kind of the classic thing. You pick people who like what you think a computer person is, which is probably a teenage boy that was in the computer club in high school.”

A curve always has a parabolic movement. If it has gone down, back then, it is now rising. Girls are being encouraged to take up computer science as their majors, and learn to code. Many initiatives are happening around the globe to make sure women get openings to the tech world.

For instance, year 2014 saw the non-profit campaign “Year of Code”, with an aim to convince schools to have coding courses for students, courtesy the 2013 reports by American Association of University Women stating about “unsupportive classroom environments and outdated pedagogy and a limited peer group”. There are many startups that are sincerely trying to motivate and encourage more women to step into coding. Startups like Girls Who Code, Ladies Learning Code, Lesbians Who Tech, Women Who Code, Girls in Tech and many others.

There are many reasons as to why women should code-

1. Researches, surveys and estimations opine that by 2020 there will be more tech openings than candidates available to fill them in.
2. There is a lot of encouragement and motivation around, from females in the tech industry.
3. On the statistical front, women comprise the largest chunk as the consumers of technology. Hence, their insights in terms of consumer needs and preferences are all the more valuable in the tech industry.
4. A little contribution to the next generation is not much to ask! The next generation kids will talk “apps” from the time they learn to talk. In that case, tech moms will have the added advantage with tech savvy kids- whether its discussing how an app works or teaching them how to build one!
5. The most important reason of all- “Why should boys have all the fun?” Yes, coding is fun if you know to write it. Its not being uncool or geek, its a step to becoming more creative through lines of codes!

Image Source: Excerpt-Where Did all the Women go?

So, next time you hear a girl say “no” to coding because it is a ‘guy’s thing’, tell her its awesome to be a coder!