GM has given Girls Who Code a $250,000 grant to help expand their after school programs and clubs. Girls Who Code is a non-profit group dedicated to teaching young girls programming (Image via Girls Who Code)
For much too long, programming and working with computers has been considered a boys club. Though there are a number of women working in the field, they often aren’t visible. To make matters worse, a recent study by Accencture shows that the number of women in the workforce has dropped since 1995, going from 37 percent to 24. National non-profit Girls Who Code wants to change these numbers and they’re going to get some help from GM to further promote women in the computer programming field.
GM announced plans to give GWC a $250,000 grant to help the group expand their clubs and educational programs. GWC plan to use the money to fund their after school program GWC Clubs, which offers free activities for students in community and academic centers to improve computer skills and promote women in the field. They also want to expand their reach to areas with no such programs. They want to develop 5,000 new clubs in under-served areas and offer them these programs the local schools may be unable to. GWC will offer free activity sessions and mentorships to women currently enrolled in middle school or high school in these communities. Along with the grant, GM’s top female leaders will also serve as mentors to students and talk about what’s possible with a STEM focused education.
GM CEO Mary Barra is happy to offer GWC the money since she considers it an issue she’s passionate about. In a press statement, she revealed STEM education helped with her success as an engineer, which allowed her to move on to bigger and better things. To kick things off, Barra and Reshma Saujani, GWC founder and CES, will host 30 students from the GWC program at the North American Auto Show. This launch event will offer workshops that tackle topic, such as vehicle connectivity, autonomous driving, electrification, and car sharing.
Along with encouraging women in the field, Barra also has GM’s future in mind. The company is also searching for the best and brightest programmers, but Barra has found the numbers for computer engineers and programmers are shrinking. It’s getting harder to recruit with such fierce competition and small numbers to work with. Barra hopes GM will help shape the future of these young programmers and prepare them for leadership positions at GM.
It’s great to see GM team up with GWC to offer support for women who may feel discouraged or alone in their field. They are joining forces to change the stereotypical image of a programmer: white male in a hoodie with a cocky attitude. And of course, it’s good business for GM. They want to secure their future and get a leg up on the competition by having access to future programmers. It also makes them look good as a company. Supporters of GWC will look to GM as a shining example and will want to support them by purchasing their products. At the end of the day, this is still a business transaction, but hopefully it’ll be one that will make a change in the world of female programmers.
Have a story tip? Message me at: cabe(at)element14(dot)com