Women Who Code - Empowerment vs Struggle

According to a collective of a great number of studies combined, there are only about 18% of women in the pool of total coders in the tech world today. This is compared to 30% in the eighties. Why is this?

Some women feel it is difficult for them to grow in the tech world, while others may feel the sacrifices (family time, less pay at the beginning) they have to make isn't worth it. Whether you are a woman or not, tech is difficult. Learning to code is not for anyone who is not ready to dig in their heels and take on some real challenges.

However, with that said, the struggles are well known, and there are a lot of empowering groups who offer support and guidance to women and minorities who want to code. The group Women who Code, for example, is an international non-profit organization that provides help to women who are pursuing careers in the tech world. They offer a job board on their website as well as articles and advice, coding resources, networking opportunities, events and meetups, and more. Many companies such as IBM, Apple, Google, and Microsoft have dedicated internal Women and minority support and empowerment groups for their staff.

The reason that this is important is that the number of women coders is shrinking simply because it is easier to do something else. There jobs out there that pay more at the beginning. When you go into a giant tech company, there are hundreds of coders. It is easy to feel undervalued. If you are a woman, and you are not being paid much and you are sacrificing time away from your children, your family life, it may be easy to give up the cubicle life.

The humans behind the technical world are beginning to realize this, and not just for women, but for men too. Hopefully, great changes are beginning to take place. Since the coronavirus has pushed a lot of work into the remote spectrum, many people have realized they do not like working in a cubicle. I do not think they will go back quietly.

However, most companies were already recognizing the importance of a comfortable and welcoming workspace for all.