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Education and skills business, Liverpool Girl Geeks have embarked on a mission to tackle the gender imbalance and establish more diversity in the North West’s technology industry.
Liverpool Girl Geeks is a Social Enterprise and Co-founder, Chelsea Slater has asserted: “We are on a mission to decrease the gender imbalance within the tech industry.” She explains that research has shown that this is down to a wide range of factors including, but not solely because of, stereotypes that are attached to certain careers and how these are impressed upon us from a young age.
With Victoria’s Secret model turned computer coder Karlie Kloss making waves in the tech industry and campaigns trying to narrow the gender gap in technology, the Girl Geek networks are keen to point out, that the opposite is happening.
Recent studies have shown that the representation of women in the technology industry is dramatically decreasing. The industry covers a huge range of sub sectors including, health, gaming, music, theatre and social media (to name a few).
But according to the Girl Geek’s research, ‘only 17.3% of technical roles are taken by women’ which is down from last year, and the year before and the year before that.
If you can see where this is going, try to get your head around this – it is estimated that by 2040, as jobs in technology increase and women taking them decrease, there could be, just a 1 per cent of tech jobs filled by women.
Liverpool Girl Geeks are passionate about this message across the region, as they aim to work to demolish the stereotype through a series of events, activities and boot-camps.
They aim to raise awareness of the benefits of working in tech, claiming that the average salary for anyone working in technology is around £50,000. They explain that the industry fiercely encourages logical thinking, creative design and social skills. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Where do we sign up?
You can start by visiting the Liverpool Girl Geeks website, where you can view and sign up to events and activities throughout the year. They are currently running a ‘Girl Geek Academy’, sponsored by Coop and in partnership with FACT.
The organisation has grouped together local girls aged 11-16 to work in co-operation to create individual websites using code. The 8-week academy also focuses on building confidence and teaching the girls how to use exciting technological appliances such as 3D Printers.
The Girl Geeks have also been busy this summer with a boot-camp for girls aged 12-14, which focus on similar hot topics with a real hands-on approach.
For any women aged 18 and above, Liverpool Girl Geeks run a monthly meet up, Girls in Tech, which aims to bring together interesting people who are eager to find out more about a career in tech and creativity as well as people who are already working in the industry.
Chelsea explains: “Our events are for both women and men, who are interested in Technology, Science, Maths, Arts and Creativity. If you want to find out more about the tech industry and how you can have a career in it, this event is for you.”
With all of these exciting events going on around us, how can we make any more excuses? If you have any interest in tech whatsoever or improving gender diversity in a professional sector, make sure you check out the Liverpool Girl Geeks’ website, browse their calendar and attend their next monthly meet up at Muster Coffee, Liverpool. To book a free place for 7th November at 6pm, click on the link below. Hope to see you there!
Monthly Meet Up:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/women-3-tech-monthly-meet-up-november-tickets-28389219921
Connect with Liverpool Girl Geeks:
www.liverpoolgirlgeeks.co.uk
In partnership with:
https://digital.blogs.coop/