Why Girls Are the New Geeks – And Loving It!

A report by the American Association of University Women, “Tech-Savvy: Educating Girls in the New Computer Age," concluded that girls are still turned off by technical careers. The study was put together through interviews with 70 middle and high school girls, an online survey of almost 900 teachers, and from the experiences of commissioned members and other women in STEM fields.

It concluded that girls have the ability to learn and use computers, but they are turned off by computer tech careers because they view them as full of geeky guys in windowless offices who toil at keyboards for hours.

As a result, they are closing themselves off to high-paying jobs in the computer industry, and they’re not learning skills that could give them an advantage in any career that uses computers. It is truly everyone's job, parents and educators alike, to make sure that girls have the access they need to experiment with computers in the classroom and at home from an early age.

The tech gender gap

In 2017, Reshma Saujani, founder of the organization Girls Who Code shared some startling statistics.

“Seventy percent of all Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) jobs are in computer science, and computer science is the only growing tech industry where we have seen a decline in female participation.

"By 2020 there will be 1.4 million jobs in computing fields, but women are on track to fill only 3% of those jobs. Nigeria, India, China, and Cambodia are ahead of the United States in teaching their youth to code.”

Fast-forwarding a few years to 2024, and we find that while over 1 million women work in STEM fields, that number comprises only 29% of the total STEM workforce.

The divide remains.

Why girls need to consider tech careers

In 2016, Regina Agyare co-founded Tech Needs Girls, a mentorship and educational initiative aiming to encourage young women to pursue a career in technology. At the time, Agyare outlined five reasons why the technology world needs more geek girls:

• Improving technical innovation: Currently we are missing out on valuable perspectives that 50% of the population can bring to designing the technology of the future.
• Reducing social inequalities: Computing jobs are among the fastest growing and the highest paying, yet few women are benefiting from these occupations.
• Teaching girls leadership skills and critical thinking: By learning to create technology girls learn to speak up since they have to explain their work; they must stand tall in order to be taken seriously in this male-dominated field.
• Stopping the workforce exit: More than half (56%) of women in technology leave their employers at the mid-level point in their careers (10-20 years). Some describe themselves as lone wolves. The numbers say it all: In the United States, women hold less than 25% of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) jobs. Each year the number of women studying and pursuing careers in technology goes down by 0.5% thus by 2043 at the current trend less than 1% of the global tech workforce will be female."

Google’s Study: Women Who Choose CSS-What Really Matters

Google recently conducted a study on women in tech careers and released the results of the study in May. The study came to the following conclusion:

While there are still many open questions related to degree follow-through and career longevity, the results of this study are very encouraging in terms of actionability. Not only do uncontrollable factors play a limited role in explaining a young woman’s decision to pursue a Computer Science degree, the controllable factors of encouragement and exposure are the largest influencers.

The bottom line is that the factors most related to female participation in Computer Science are actionable. That’s not to say this is a problem that can be solved easily, but it is a problem that can be tackled with deliberate and directed action focused on encouragement and exposure.

Organizations empowering girls in tech careers

To ensure that these statistics change, organizations have arisen to improve and expand technical education programming for women. They include community workshops and regional networking groups designed to attract school-age girls. These five organizations are optimistic about building a community that includes first-time programmers and people shifting professional fields.

Girls Who Code

Girls Who Code aims to provide computer science education and exposure to 1 million young women by 2020. Girls Who Code has developed a new model for computer science education, pairing intensive instruction in robotics, web design, and mobile development with high-touch mentorship and exposure led by the industry’s top female engineers and entrepreneurs.

Rewriting the Code

Rewriting the Code's mission is to "support and empower college, graduate and early career women in tech through intersectional communities, mentorship, industry experience, and educational resources to become the next generation of engineers and tech leaders." The organization also connects young women pursuing college degrees at over 940 universities with each other to promote networking and connection.

Geek Girl

Geek Girl was started in March of 2006 by Leslie Fishlock when she became so frustrated hearing stories of woe from bright, articulate women who did not know the basics of computers and the Internet, and had a penchant for being taken advantage of by computer gimmicks and overly anxious sales clerks. Geek Girl is for the “average wannabe geek girl”.

TechGirlz

TechGirlz holds workshops and an entrepreneurial summer camp aimed at giving middle-school girls hands-on experience with different kinds of technology and enabling them to interact with women who have carved out successful careers in technology fields. So far, 400 girls have taken part in our workshops, which we call TechShopz, and the TechGirlz Entrepreneur Summer Camp.

Companies encouraging girls to seek tech careers

Armed with statistics that girls appear to be less interested in tech careers, some brands have decided to try and do something about it:

ComEd

The largest electric utility company in Chicago and the greater Illinois area just launched an event called The Ice Box Derby. The six-week competition has young women (ages 13 to 18) using recycled refrigerators to create electric cars.

Google

Google has a little side project called Made With Code. The effort is to help girls of the future get involved in coding—a skill that they believe will open doors.

GoldieBlox

The toy company is holding steady on its mission to create the next generation of female engineers. Its leaders are committed to helping young girls develop STEM skills so they're positioned to compete — and excel — in some of the fastest-growing jobs in the world.