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What if the true key to equality has been right in front of you all along?
Women often struggle for equal pay and recognition in the workplace. And it turns out that the best way to shatter the glass ceiling is with a keyboard.
Learning to code opens up more doors for women than you’ve ever imagined. If you’re wondering what the benefits of learning to code are, keep reading to discover the answer!
True Empowerment
We talk a lot about empowering women. However, what that means is usually not well-defined.
Learning a practical skill like coding is empowering in the most literal sense. It helps someone achieve a sense of power and mastery over something that most people will understand.
This mastery comes with a number of benefits and opportunities detailed below. But you should never lose sight of the fact that when women learn SQL and other kinds of code, they are more empowered than any generation before them.
The New Literacy
More than a few people refer to coding as a new kind of literacy. And when you think about it, you can see why.
Once upon a time, the ability to read was truly rare. Those who could actually read things like religious or philosophical texts quickly rose to power because they had knowledge and abilities that most did not.
Coding is now the same way. Most people don’t have this skill. Yet those who do form the backbone of our financial, educational, and cultural lives.
In time, the ability to code may become as common as the ability to read. But right now, women have the chance to seize this power and have it propel their life and career to new heights.
Ahead of Education
Pop quiz: what is the role of the modern school system?
Most people would say that it’s meant to prepare children for either college or a career. But the sad truth is that education is largely reactive.
That means at most schools, the curriculum is slow to change. You’d be amazed at how similar the modern child’s education is to that of their parents and even their grandparents!
However, when women learn to code, they develop their own programming background. This puts them ahead of their peers and helps advance their education beyond what their teachers have to offer.
When the time comes, they’ll have their pick of exciting and challenging careers. And along the way, there are many scholarship opportunities for those who can code well!
It’s Fun!
So far, this article has focused on the more traditional opportunities that coding affords to young women. After all, you can’t go wrong with better jobs and educational opportunities!
There is another core reason that women should learn to code, though — because it’s fun!
Adults often fall into the trap of thinking that hobbies and jobs must be completely separate. The thinking usually goes that hobbies are what we do for fun and jobs are what we do to pay for hobbies.
But coding happens to be a hobby and a job rolled into one. Sure, it will help get women into better schools and better jobs. More importantly, though, they’ll feel happy and fulfilled along the way.
STEM Opportunities
We’ve danced around the idea of coding opening many career doors. Now, it’s worth answering the question: why is coding the key to such doors?
The answer to this is STEM. More and more jobs now involve STEM on some level, and this has been a double-edged sword for consumers and careers.
For example, we all benefit from automation. Small technological improvements add up to save time and make our lives a bit easier. But this comes at the loss of certain careers.
When a store gets more automated registers, they typically let a few of their cashiers go. But do you know who has job security? The person who can fix and maintain the automated register!
STEM touches more fields than we ever could have guessed even 10 years ago. Coding brings women into this world and all the opportunity and job security that comes with it.
Becoming a Role Model
Nothing helps women like other women. And by learning to code, a woman can easily become a role model that other women need.
Over the years, many cultural forces have discouraged women from STEM fields. The 90’s notoriously featured a talking Barbie that blurted out that “math is hard” and “party dresses are fun.” This sends the toxic message that women are appreciated for their bodies and not their brains.
While our collective culture has gotten more progressive, many women still don’t know what they can do until they see other women doing it. Just think: by learning to code, you may positively impact entire generations of women!
Diversity and Opportunity
Another reason for women to join STEM fields? In short, STEM desperately needs more women!
The number of women in STEM fields has actually steadily decreased since the 1990s. The situation has created a grim irony: despite the fact that women are more likely to go to college than men, the men are still much more likely to pursue STEM degrees and land STEM careers.
Coding is a kind of gateway to additional STEM-related disciplines. Women who learn this skill early are uniquely positioned to join the STEM job force and reverse the current gender gap trend.
Also, while it sounds cynical, the current lack of women in STEM has created a number of unique opportunities for female applicants. Many job postings specify that women are particularly encouraged to apply.
In short, everything from Affirmative Action laws to changing corporate culture makes it likelier that a woman will land the coding job of her dreams.
Benefits of Learning to Code: The Bottom Line
Now you know the many benefits of learning to code for women. But do you know how to get started?
We specialize in helping women find success in every aspect of their lives. To start your STEM educational journey, check out our education articles today!
