As software becomes more ubiquitous, the demand for people with coding
skills continues to increase - not just in the software industry, but in every
sector across the country. To address this challenge and help prepare the
future generation, Software.org:
the BSA Foundation is excited to spend its fifth summer teaching young
women how to code.
Software.org's class, which starts today, is part of a summer immersion
program in Washington, DC led by Girls
Who Code, a national nonprofit dedicated to closing the gender gap through
coding programs aimed at high school girls. Twenty-two young women from the
DC-area will spend seven weeks learning the building blocks of computer
science, like coding languages and web development. Students will also meet
prominent female leaders in tech to gain inspiration for potential career
paths.
"It's amazing to see how much our students grow during the program," said
Chris Hopfensperger, Executive Director of Software.org: the BSA Foundation.
"Not just the amount of coding they learn, but also the amount of confidence
they gain to take on new challenges. We love partnering with Girls Who Code
because it gives us an opportunity to help level the playing field and create
more diversity in tech in a real way. It's hugely important for the industry to
help girls take their seats at the keyboard - and to see a future for
themselves in software."
Closing the gender gap in tech is a top priority for the software industry.
Encouraging more women to pursue software careers will help ensure that
software is developed with a wide range of perspectives, making it more
innovate and secure. More women in tech could also help address the software
industry's labor pipeline problem. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates
that by 2026 there will be more than 500,000 new jobs in computing and IT.
"The software industry has more jobs than people who can fill them, and we
need to make sure that young people, wherever they live, have the opportunity
to become coders or computer scientists if they want," said Victoria Espinel,
President of Software.org: the BSA Foundation. "Coding is such an important
skill today that we know it will help them be successful in whatever career they
choose."