Creating things with computers is a male-dominated profession, but Google wants to change that and is not hesitating to spend $50 million in doing so.
Google is all set to launch 'Made with Code,' an initiative that aims to encourage teenage girls to become computer programmers. The launch will include a website featuring female technology icons and coding lessons for girls, such as lessons for using code to make bracelets. The website will also feature a database of U.S. coding programs for girls. Google has also invited 150 girls to a Made with Code opening event in New York City, where the girls will see indie rocker Icona Pop perform live and women coders show how they use code to create a variety of things, such as animated movies and designer fabrics.
But perhaps more important than a website and a Mindy Kaling-hosted event is the $50 million fund Google is expending to encourage girls to take up computer science in college and and provide grants for girl-coding parties for Girl Scouts and Boys and Girls Clubs across the country. This is in partnership with Girls Who Code, a nonprofit organization that runs summer coding schools for girls, and The Clinton Foundation, whose No Ceilings project aims to promote full participation by girls and women in all aspects of society.
"Coding is a new literacy, and it gives people the potential to create, innovate and quite literally change the world. We've got to show all girls that computer science is an important part of their future and that it's a foundation to pursue their passions, no matter what field they want to enter," says Susan Wojcicki, one of Google's first employees now YouTube chief executive.
"I miss having more women counterparts," she adds.
But is there room enough for a slew of girl programmers in the workplace? Absolutely.
"We hope to show girls that coding is fun. But there's also the simple fact that supply and demand is not working. There are millions of jobs out there going begging," says Megan Smith, vice president of Google X at Google.
Figures from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics show the computer science field is rapidly growing, with more than 4.2 million jobs expected by 2020. However, less than 1% of all female high school students even think about becoming a programmer. Additionally, the College Board says that out of the 30,000 students who took the computer science Advanced Placement test in 2013, only 20% were girls, and none of them came from Mississippi, Wyoming or Montana.
The situation doesn't look any better in the workforce. Google has 44,000 employees, 70% of whom are males. Yahoo says 62% of its coders are males, while LinkedIn's rosters are composed of 61% of males, more than half of whom are white. All in all, only around 30% of American computer scientists are women.
"Medicine used to be entirely male dominated, but slowly that was turned around, and the same can happen here," says Chelsea Clinton of The Clinton Foundation, who is hopeful that the rise of female role models such as Marissa Meyer of Yahoo, Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook and Wojcicki will encourage high school girls to follow in their footsteps.
Earlier this year, Google commissioned a study of 1,600 people to find out why there aren't very many girls going into programming. The results show that not a lot of girls explore coding not because they aren't interested in it but because they are not exposed to it as much as boys are.
