How Jam Coding is closing the gender imbalance in tech

In 2022, it’s hard to believe that gender balance is still the most significant diversity issue in computer science.

Just recently, Apple chief Tim Cook admitted that there are still not enough females in digital roles. At his own firm, women make up just 35% of the workforce.

Whilst tech giants are starting to invest in programmes to recruit women to the sector, more needs to be done to stop them from lagging behind in the first place. And that starts with early year education.

But according to research, young female learners are still not considering a career in the tech sector. PWC narrows this down to three main reasons:

• Girls aren’t getting enough information about what a career in technology involves or the jobs they could do with the right digital skills;
• No one is putting it forward to them as an option. Research shows that just 16% of females have had a career in technology suggested to them, compared to 33% of males;
• Girls can’t see themselves in a digital role as there are so few female role models in the industry. In fact, 78% of students couldn’t name a famous female working in technology, whereas two-thirds could name a famous man.

In another survey of 350 girls, reasons cited for not choosing to study computer science in higher education were…

• A lack of interest in the subject
• A lack of confidence in their ability

Now we know why there are disproportionately fewer girls in computer science. The question is – what can we do during those primitive early years to level the playing field?

Tim Cook believes that everybody should be required to take some sort of coding course by the time they finish school, in order to have a “working knowledge” of how coding works and how apps are created…and so do we.

How Jam Coding is making a difference

1. Instead of spreadsheets and data entry, Jam Coding is all about animating videos, coding games and creating digital artwork. Digital education should be fun and fun has no gender. Just as many girls sign up to take our classes as boys and we believe that’s entirely down to our workshops being fun.
2. Introducing our learners to digital concepts at the right ages, we help young girls understand how they can apply the skills they learn with us to real-life situations and jobs. Want to be a Youtuber? You’ll need to know how to create, animate and edit your own videos!
3. We’re proud to have a high number of female Code Coaches delivering our sessions, as we know just how important it is for young girls to have female role models in the industry.
4. Our workshops are structured around four core principles: Creativity, Collaboration, Communication and Confidence. We want our female learners to work well with their male counterparts, with equal opportunities to share their thoughts and ideas. We believe this enhances the creative process and makes them feel valued and confident in their abilities.

From the playground to the workforce, all genders must come together to create truly inclusive outcomes.