Women Who Code: How Will Your Business Promote Equity in 2020?
Next year is the perfect time to look closely at global growth, including advancements in the women who code movement.
The 2020 New Year promises to bring a lot of expectations, future plans, and goals. A new decade is an opportunity to advance women in technology initiatives. Next year is the perfect time to look closely at global growth, including advancements in the women who code movement.
WISE, a campaign for gender balance in science and engineering, did just this in a recent report. This community interest organization analyzed the participation growth of women in STEM careers over the last decade. The study shows some progress, yet ultimately demonstrates a need for continued social action.
WISE found that women in technology are still a minority. The analysis discovered that only 16% of all IT professionals are female. Women, although 51% of the total population, remain grossly underrepresented in technology fields.
Nonetheless, WISE also had positive statistics to report. The company found that women make up nearly 50% of science roles. Further, the number of women entering engineering careers has doubled to 50,000 since 2010. Just as important, WISE announced that the number of women holding management roles within STEM has increased to 14%.
These improvements in female participation in STEM careers are a promising sign of a future with more opportunities and fewer barriers for women in technology, science, engineering, and medicine.
Social activism is changing cultural attitudes toward women
The last ten years saw the rise of feminist movements like #MeToo. The social activism of the decade worked to increase support for women speaking up about a difficult issue. The #MeToo movement opened up important discussions about sexual harassment.
Awareness is an integral step in ending this treatment against women. With continued effort, we can work towards a society with a greater demonstrated respect for women.
In the last decade, feminist movements have shifted priorities. There is a new effort to leave behind antiquated white, cis-gendered feminist ideals. A cis-gendered person is a person whose personal identity and gender align with their birth sex.
Modern feminist movements highlight the importance of supporting all those who identify as women. These types of feminist movements have made incredible improvements to female representation in STEM. The resulting changes, big or small, should be celebrated as we enter 2020.
What can you contribute to gender equality?
WISE is encouraging sustained, continuous growth by calling on employers, professional bodies, as well as educators, to aim for 30% women in STEM roles.
It is important to look ahead at our next accomplishments. By reflecting on the achievements of the past decade, we can set a new standard for the next ten years.
When the ball does drop at midnight on January 1, Código Ecuador will be only one out of countless organizations renewing their commitment to empowering women to take on careers in science and technology. Nonetheless, we need help from you.
If you’re a business owner, can your company better represent the over 50% of the population that identifies as female? If you are an advocate for women, what will your contribution be to this crucial effort? Commit to a New Year’s resolution today to do something to make 2020 the year for women.
Código Ecuador is a nonprofit organization working to promote technology skills and computer programming careers for high school students in Ecuador with a focus on female empowerment. You can learn more about Código Ecuador by visiting www.codigoecuador.org.
