Computer Coding Needs More Girls Today, Women Tomorrow

The historical marginalization of women in scientific disciplines has created various ripple effects that are still here today. Such a specific problem — male domination of fields like computer engineering — has widespread implications.

For example, women get paid less for the same work and face professional hurdles that men do not. The problems trickle down from the workplace, affecting women at large. For instance, automotive safety was designed by men, whose unconscious biases resulted in safety belts calibrated more for the, on average, larger male body than women’s.

Clearly, society needs to remove gender barriers and actively encourage girls to pursue things like computer coding and programming computers. Please read on to learn about how kids coding classes do exactly that.

Video Game as Motivator

Video games always captivated children, even when arcade games only had basic graphics and storylines. Today, video games are a multi-billion-dollar industry that attracts kids and adults alike. 

Like with other biases, old video games featured crude gender stereotypes, resulting in games that were less inviting to girls. The best online coding classes orient their lessons around letting students create their own video game, teaching fundamental STEM skills and giving children more agency than they’d have from simply playing games.

Girls are as motivated as any child to create their own video game! Acquiring the skills necessary becomes its own kind of game, so the journey is fun, and the final reward keeps them driven and wanting to learn.

Teacher Support

Everybody learns better when they don’t need to compete to get attention from their teacher, especially when students are young and the subject matter is entirely new. Online lessons work best when there are about four students per teacher.

More than that creates potential classroom management issues for instructors. Even when students are well behaved, the more of them there are, the harder it is to give every pupil the attention they deserve.

Teaching Professional Coding Languages

Motivation and support are crucial, but only if students learn coding languages that industry relies on for products used by countless millions of people each day. Some online coding programs teach introductory languages like Scratch, which are only designed to introduce coding concepts to kids — professionals don’t use Scratch to build video games, apps, or software.

Look for a coding program that teaches coding languages they will really encounter in the field, such as:

• Python
• Java
• JavaScript
• C#
• C++
• Unity

The sooner students acclimatize themselves to industry-standard coding languages, the easier time they’ll have entering the job market, not to mention improving their coding skills. This is especially important for young girls and women who need to acquire these skills and gain confidence.Technology is only going to play an increasingly larger role in society, and it’s crucial for women to impact and shape how it develops. Representation matters because it helps eliminate unconscious bias and makes better products. Just find an online coding class that meets the above criteria, and tomorrow’s world will have the technology for everyone.