Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/920837
AACREDITUNION.ORG | 9 I t's no secret that women are underrepresented in tech. In fact, female professionals only make up about a quarter of those in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) occupations. But that gender gap doesn't start in the workplace. It starts in the schools. An American Association of University Women study showed that while stereotypes and gender biases are a few of the obstacles leading to the gender gap, an increase of STEM education for women early on in life or an opportunity for mentorship in data science is changing the dynamic. One of those groups is Girls Who Code, founded by Reshma Saujani in 2011 with a mission to make girls who code common. Since then, the nonprofi t organization has reached about 40,000 girls in grades 6 to 12 through nationwide after-school clubs and summer immersion programs hosted by companies across the country. Girls Who Code's Kelly Parisi, vice president of marketing and communications, explains how the focus is helping change the dynamic of the tech world. HOW IS GIRLS WHO CODE WORKING TO RECRUIT GIRLS INTO THE TECH INDUSTRY? One of our missions is to change the stereotype and image of what it means to be a coder. Recently, Girls Who Code teamed up with Penguin to release several books about coding, including board, picture and coloring books for babies as well as a young adult series featuring girl coders. It's like the Babysitters Club meets coding. They're chapter books created to introduce coding to girls at a young age so that they can see themselves in that space. WHY DO YOU THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO INSPIRE AND SUPPORT WOMEN IN STEM CAREERS? These are where the jobs are. Currently, there are 500,000 jobs in computing-related fi elds, and that number is only going to increase. Girls use technology, and they think about technology diff erently than men. I think they use it for really powerful social change purposes. If you want to cure cancer, teach a girl to code. If you want to make an impact on the environment, get more women and girls coding and teach them how to use technology to do that. HOW CAN TECH COMPANIES HELP CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT THAT SETS WOMEN UP FOR SUCCESS? Connect women with other women. One of the great things that we do at Girls Who Code is we connect girls to other girls, and they become part of the sisterhood. We need to fl ood the gates with more women, but once they're in that space, we need to create support systems and connect them to each other. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST VALUABLE LESSON YOU'VE LEARNED WHILE WORKING AT GIRLS WHO CODE? It's something we teach our girls, which is to be brave and that it's OK to make mistakes. We teach our girls that just because you get something wrong doesn't mean you're not good at it. You have to keep trying and you have to keep moving forward. Women represent 25 percent of workers in STEM industries 24.7% OF COMPUTER AND MATHEMATICAL OCCUPATIONS 15.1% OF ARCHITECTURE AD ENGINEER OCCUPATIONS Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015