Ayna Agarwal and Ellora Israni, both Stanford seniors, founded She++ in 2012. A platform to inspire girls to take computer science classes and reinvent and rebrand the image of the technologist for a next generation of "girls gone geek".
Computer and technology is ubiquitous, it defines our everyday life however clearly women are much underrepresented in the field of computer science. Why is that the reason? Learning how to code will open huge opportunities in the workplace of the future. Especially women also need to jump into these opportunities. If only men code, they also make the decisions in this relatively new but rising field. Hence, women of all ages should start incorporating technology and learning how to code. Leaning how to code will turn yourself into a role model for younger girls to start coding.
Whatever you want to change in the world, learning how to use technology is a powerful toolkit for the future. On top of that, learning how to programm is much easier than it used to be. A new wave of femgineers is taking the world. Those women don't consider themselves to be hackers or "nerds" who started coding at the age opf 5. But those women have a basic understanding of coding and programming and combine them with their inspirations, ideas and passion for technology. Having more femgineers, will close the job gap in the future. However, what makes technology so unattractive for women? It is that most women think that they are not competent enough to programm and code. She++ is exactly tackling this problem. Steffi Czerny finishes: "This was the most important talk of our conference. This is our future” she says putting her arms around the two Stanford students.
Then the next speaker, Gesche Joost comes on stage to be interviewed by Britta Weddeling. “Do you think this is a future trend?” Weddeling asks. Joost believes it is, also because coding is power. In her post at the University of Arts in Berlin (UDK), she and her students find many occasions to integrate fashion and technology. For instance, they designed a jacket for stroke patients “Is government losing power?” Weddeling asks, alluding to the Occupy Gezi movement. Joost believes governments should be wary of the power these movements have. That many German politicians continue to be “off-line in their mentality”. If Joost were to change technology policy in Germany, she would collaborate with Viviane Reding to fight for user privacy on a European level. But also introduce technology training for younger generations, for instance with coding classes in elementary school. Weddeling’s last question to Joost: “If someone offers you the job of internet minister, would you take it?” “Of course! Of course, of course!” Joost finishes.