Code First: Girls are on a mission to get more women into tech by 2020
The official launch at Campus London, #CFG2020
Only 3.9% of technology & telecommunications professionals in the UK in 2017 are female developers. Such a low statistic inspires the question,
“if 51% of the population are female, why shouldn’t 51% of coders be?” Ali Hartman, KKR & co.
Code First: Girls are on a mission to change this and have launched a bold campaign to teach 20,000 young women how to code by the end of 2020. This mission will result in CF:G teaching more women to code than the higher education system.
By teaching more women to code, CF:G believe they can shift the landscape of the UK economy. Tech is where the higher-paid future jobs are and currently there is a huge gender imbalance in technical roles. By educating more women and facilitating their career changes in to tech we will hopefully witness a change in gender equality stats. CF:G does not only teach women to code, they also support course graduates as they transition into tech.
We hope that CF:G’s campaign will also impact societal expectations on young girls so much that perhaps, like Dame Stephanie Shirley hopes, it will result in CF:G’s important role being redundant by 2020.
Over the past three years, CF:G have already taught 5000 women how to code and delivered £2.5 million pounds worth of free education. This new campaign relies on corporate partners and campaign ambassadors to help make it a reality.
Confab Social Founder Phoebe Lebrecht has been involved with Code First: Girls since she 2014 when she was included in the CF:G 25 under 25 ‘Ones to Watch’. She was recently asked by Founder Amali de Alwis to give her thoughts for the CF:G 2020 launch magazine alongside two other campaign champions Dolly Eniola and Edyta Wrobel.
Read the article below…
“Everyone has a different skillset and a different path, so don’t be afraid to try things out, because there’s nothing wrong with failure. In fact, you can learn from your mistakes, so just go for it.” — phoebe lebrecht
In order to deliver the 2020 campaign, CF:G are raising £1.5m. Sounds like a lot? Well when you break it down, it is only £75 per woman. With the help of their campaign partners, CF:G are well on their way to their goal but today, as part of their 2020 announcement, they launched a Kickstarter campaign so that individuals can also support the movement.
Find out how you can help shape the future by supporting the campaign here: http://www.codefirstgirls.org.uk/2020.html
