CALGARY — In celebration of International Women’s Day, Shaw Communications and Hackergal today announced “Code the Future”, a new initiative designed to introduce young women, including non-binary, gender queer and trans individuals, to the basics of code and to help inspire them to explore the world of STEM.
Starting today, visitors to codethefuture.ca will be given the tools “to create a custom, web-based digital image using CSS and JavaScript coding languages,” which they are encouraged to share with their social networks “to inspire others and spread positive messages that celebrate women in STEM,” reads a press release.
“Code the Future is an accessible, and easy-to-use platform designed to introduce young women to the possibilities of code,” said Lisa Cooke, vice-president of advertising at Shaw Communications, in the press release. “Through this initiative, we want to help inspire more young women to go outside of their comfort zone, express themselves creatively, and spread messages of empowerment to celebrate the women that are closing the gender gap that is still so prevalent in STEM fields.”
Shaw’s press release points to a 2017 report from McKinsey and Company that found the gender gap in STEM fields remains significant in Canada, with women making up approximately 23% of the relevant workforce in 2017.
“With Code the Future, Shaw and Hackergal are giving young self-identifying women a simple platform with relevant content to experience coding and show that STEM is for everyone,” the release says.
“Code the Future is a fun opportunity to showcase how creative coding can be while raising awareness against gender bias in the technology industry,” said Lucy Ho, founder and executive director of Hackergal. “It is inspiring to see how code can be an empowering tool to amplify change.”
This new initiative builds on Shaw’s existing relationship with Hackergal, a not-for-profit organization that provides girls across Canada with the opportunity to explore the possibilities of code through its Hackathon and Ambassador programs.
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Image screen captured from the Code the Future website.
