Girl Geek Academy aims to ‘break down’ barriers and teach girls to code

Australia’s Girl Geek Academy is rolling out the next phase of its coding curriculum targeting girls aged five to eight, kicking it off with an event in Sydney to coincide with International Girls in ICT Day, an awareness day dedicated to encouraging girls to consider careers in IT.

The kickoff event for the #MissMakesCode – a teacher training program – will take place tomorrow at the Custom’s House in Sydney. The event, in partnership with female film festival, For Films Sake, will see local primary school girls learn to code and build a game in a day.

Girl Geek Academy CEO, Sarah Moran, said she’s pleased that #MissMakesCodes is back for another year, and wants to encourage primary teachers across Australia to join the upcoming teacher training workshops starting in July or register for its online bootcamps.

“#MissMakesCode is an important initiative in our bid to help increase the numbers of women in future IT careers and diversify IT roles for women. It’s critical that we engage girls in technology from the age of five, so that it can become a native skill like reading and writing.

“We know that it’s easier to engage girls in technology before they have been exposed to any gender bias, as research shows that from the age of six, girls already have gendered beliefs about intelligence and they’re more likely to avoid games meant for “really, really smart” children,” Moran said.

Girl Geek Academy was founded by five female digital professionals who want to increase the number of women with successful STEM careers. Initiatives include coding and hackathons, 3D printing and wearables, game development, design, entrepreneurship and startups.

Earlier this week, Girl Geek Academy teamed up with official .au wholesale provide AusRegistry to run a coding workshop at Queen of Peace primary school in Altona Meadows, Melbourne.

“Increasing diversity in the technology industry is a cause we’re very passionate about, to ensure we’re creating the best possible workplaces that generate the best possible outcomes by including a true mix of voices and experiences,” said AusRegistry senior client services manager, Maggie Whitnall.

“It’s fantastic to mark Girls in ICT Day with such a valuable program as the #MissMakesCode workshop and to see young girls engaging with technology in a fun and creative way. Hopefully it’s inspired some of the coders of tomorrow.”

The #MissMakesCode is open for teacher signups via its website http://missmakescode.com. The first teacher training workshop will take place in Melbourne on 27 July, 2017. The program kicks off tomorrow with all girls’ coding class at Sydney’s Custom’s House from 10:00 am – 3:30 pm.