Gone – or almost – are the days when most job types were dictated by gender. Men stay at home to raise the kids and women fly aeroplanes.
But scratch the surface and the stereotypes are still there. Popular perception sees chefs as males and cooks as females. And in some cases, it’s not just perception either. Just consider Formula 1. In the history of the sport, only five women have entered at least one race – with the last woman attempting to qualify for a Formula 1 grand prix in 1992.
In the world of ICT, there are also similar gaps. For most people, gamers, coders and other popular roles in ICT come from the proverbial Mars.
The #CodeLikeAGirl initiative attempts to bridge this gender gap while empowering young women to enter the brave new world of ICT.
Vodafone Group has been organising coding workshops for 14- to 18-year-old girls across 26 countries – including in Malta – for the past years.
During these workshops, female students are paired up and given the opportunity to learn how to build their own website from scratch. This year, for the second time, Vodafone Malta has organised the #CodeLikeAGirl workshops locally at their Skyparks offices.
Students leave the four-day workshop – which this year has encouraged 50 students to participate – with a completion certificate and the opportunity to follow up with an internship, offered by Vodafone.
Vodafone practice what they preach, and currently, have employed a workforce of 46 per cent female staff, including in top positions like chief executive officer, chief financial officer and chief technology officer.
For some of the girls, coding was a completely new experience.
“This was my first opportunity to learn how to code,” said Kimberley Farrugia, 18. “It’s a great initiative and the skills I learned will come in handy for future jobs.
“This is my first try at coding,” said Charise Agius, 17. “Coding has always interested me, as I would like to become a game designer. There aren’t a lot of female game designers – and I think that with this initiative, more girls will be interested in such careers. After all, gaming is not about gender.”
Trinity Agius and Kelsey Cascun, 13 and 14, were surprised by how much one can learn in a few hours.
“It was amazing to learn how, after a few days, you can create a good quality website,” they said.
#CodeLikeAGirl is an inspiring initiative.
“This course has changed my life plan,” said Julia Cappitta. “I’m now going to add computing and engineering to my subjects.”
“In such a short time, we feel that we have achieve a lot,” said Martina Abela, 15 and Michaela Fava, 16.
“It boosted our confidence, and we feel we will certainly use this knowledge in the near future.”
“We're still not sure what career we will be pursuing, but #CodeLikeAGirl has certainly given us more options,” said Leonora Tesi and Nicole Cachia, both 14.
“Our confidence has also received a massive boost. We never thought we could do this, but thanks to Vodafone, we did.”
When I grow up I want to be…
Rianne Azzopardi, 16
In the past four days of #CodeLikeAGirl, I’ve learned how to code in HTML and CSS, use GitHub, and all the while making friends.
When I grow up I would like to become a software developer – which is why I chose to study computer at school. #CodeLikeAGirl has convinced me I made the right choice.
Shania Spiteri, 16
This is my first time doing coding. Last year I wanted to apply to attend #CodeLikeAGirl but it was fully booked, so this year I applied early. I learnt so much, in less than four days I built a website, something I never thought I was capable of doing. I would like to be an engineer and this certainly helps.
Kerry McInerey, 14
Apart from coding, during #CodeLikeAGirl we also learned how to plan, be organised and solve problems – there is certainly a lot of thought behind building a website.
Had I not wanted to pursue technology as a career choice, #CodeLikeAGirl would have made me think otherwise.
Kylie Sciberras, 14
In these past four days, I've learned how to build my own website from scratch. I've also learned to be confident in myself. I am by nature a shy person and having people around me who know more than I do about a subject, usually intimidates me. But at #CodeLikeAGirl, the teachers were very helpful and boosted my confidence.