The UK, where software developers, cybersecurity professionals and data analysts are in high demand, faces a talent shortage in terms of digital skills.
And it’s not just the UK’s problem: Two-thirds of tech firms globally suffer from a talent shortage, according to a recent report from London-based human resources firm Harvey Nash.
Harvey Nash’s survey of 2100 companies also shows that the proportion of women in tech teams is rising very slowly.
The average rate of women in teams working in the field of technology is 25 percent, while this rate drops to 12 percent for senior managers.
Considering such surprising statistics, I decided to realize how difficult it would be for a woman in her 30s to learn to code with Python.
For those unfamiliar, Python is a powerful general-purpose scripting language. Python is often the first language taught to undergraduates in computer science courses.
It’s often used in business, for example YouTube is largely written in Python.
Self-learning experiment
If you want to learn to code today, you’ll need to enroll in a paid class, self-teach using online resources, or find a community to teach you for free.
Since I learned the languages used to make websites on my own in the early 2000s, I thought I might have some advantage here.
So I assumed I could learn Python on my own as well.
I started with children’s computer toys. In this way, I hoped that the goal of moving the robots would keep me engaged and motivated.
But I quickly realized that it was over my head because I had no idea how to use the software that came with the toys.
So I changed tactics. I tried Code Academy, a popular free online education platform.
But I also found this a bit scary: I was greeted with a blank black command window that said to me “Type Hello World”.
To help me learn, I attended a free one-day Python coding workshop called Teach the Nation to Code run by British education firm QA.
The course, which runs on Saturdays, was edited by Shafeeq Muhammad, QA’s chief technologist. Muhammad says learning to code changed his life.
The adult class was tough; You had to really want to learn to code to continue.
If you make mistakes in your code, no problem. Even when the code you wrote works, it doesn’t actually yield much; you only see a few lines on the screen.
In addition, I took lessons from two different platforms called Cypher Coders and Creator Academy to learn Scratch, a coding language with a simple visual interface for children. Scratch can be used to create games, animations, and even program robots.
Kids’ lessons were a lot more fun with exciting goals like a video game or making an interactive pet, but there wasn’t much theory here either.
Also, I felt that the transition from Scratch to Python was jarring because you’re going through the colored blocks to a blank screen with no support every now and then.
adapt to adults
So what can help bridge this gap in the transition from writing fun games for kids to more professionally complex code?
Garry Law, the founder of the Australian-based coding training company Creator Academy, expresses that Information Technology (IT) education should be better with the following words:
“We need to teach kids to code with visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning styles and adapt these learning methods to adults to attract more people to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM),” he says.
Elizabeth Tweedale, boss of Cypher Coders, takes this one step further. She believes that men and women often have different learning styles and that coding education should reflect this.
She says that men usually follow a linear approach from A to Z when solving problems, while women usually start from the problem and go backwards.
“We need to reinvent technology and user interfaces and coding environments to attract women,” Tweedale says.
Cost is also a big issue for this. Learning to code often costs £10,000, according to Anna Brailsford, managing director of the social initiative Code First: Girls (CFG), which prioritizes women in coding education. However, there is often no clear link between what is taught and the jobs available.
“Women are more likely to give up unless there is a clear career path,” Brailsford said. says.
CFG provides women with 13 weeks of intensive training and connects computer programming with people’s interests so they learn key skills that are useful on the job. CFG then places participants into technology careers based on their strengths.
Creator Academy, on the other hand, is a startup partly founded by the Australian state of New South Wales that gives parents AUD $100 a year to spend on their children’s technology lessons. Thanks to Creator Academy, girls make up 40 percent of Garry Law’s classes.
Tweedale suggests holding widely publicized hackathons with exciting rewards such as money or internships at tech giants.
Beverley Newing, 28, a web developer for the UK Department of Justice, agrees that the way we teach science and technology needs to change.
Newing dreamed of studying physics at university but failed to do so. “During my international undergraduate studies, I struggled a lot with male dominance in math classes,” she told the BBC. says and adds:
“I couldn’t adapt and struggled to approach the teacher when I couldn’t understand.”
After graduating from the literature department, Newing, who received government support to make a living, decided to learn to code.
She had to be quick, as she couldn’t afford to take classes and she had to start her internship as soon as possible.
Newing says he owes his community, CFG, and charity Codebar, which played a key role in changing his life.
“I don’t know what would have happened if I hadn’t done that internship,” Newing says.
“I think there is an inclusion problem and we need more paid internships in the industry so you can pay your bills while doing your internship.”