Girls in ICT day

Whether it is down to discrimination, limited options or believing that there is a lack of employability, many girls around the world shy away from a career in the tech industry. In today’s society, only 17% of females in the UK make-up the tech workforce, International Girls in ICT Day aims to change that.
April 26th saw Girls in ICT Day return once again. Over 300,000 girls and young women signed up to the global event all around the world. The day included workshops around STEM careers, allowing them to experience what a career in technology would look like. They participated in activities such as coding, music and ICT. For many girls, this was the first time they experienced what a career in technology would be like. Women in Tech is an initiative we are proud to drive here at FDM across all our global academies so the day received our full support, inspiring girls to kick-start their career in tech.

Hong Kong

International Girls in ICT Day began in Hong Kong where we held a Python workshop in partnership with HSBC. 16 students from South Island School spent the afternoon learning Python and how to programme a robot, going head to head at the end of the day to compete in the final robotics challenge. Linoy Kidd from HSBC was thrilled to see how well the girls engaged in the task. “It is amazing what you can do in a short space of time with one common aim, with some extremely talented women. This is diversity at its best. A big thank to FDM for hosting and providing valuable python training and well done to everyone who took part in creating #SheHacksForTheFuture.”

Frankfurt

The day at the Frankfurt Academy was a resounding success. With 11 participants, FDM Group and GmbH dived into the world of IT and launched them on an eventful day.

With our two trainees Helena and Kataryjna, the girls got to know the RoboCars ‘Sherlock’ and ‘Watson’ and steered them through the Academy. After countless races, it was time for them to take part in their first coding experience with ‘Programming with Sonic Pi’. The coaches, Andreas and Fabian helped the girls to compose their own piece of music. Consultant LIulia, who told the girls about her experiences as a woman in this professional sector, provided further insights into the IT industry. If you would like to hear the music that was created, please check the bottom of this post.

UK

In the UK, the team visited Doncaster Racecourse to film and stream a Facebook Live interview with a student who has been studying STEM subjects. She went from being very quiet and shy to more outgoing, and recently won a competition with Teen Tech to travel to America. Check out the interview here: https://bit.ly/2IN871p

Toronto

Here, we hosted a group of female students from George Harvey Collegiate Institute. The students were given a tour of the office as well as a Professional Skills workshop. In addition, they participated in a number of tech-themed activities and learned about career possibilities in IT and business.

New York

A group of high school girls from Leadership High School joined us in the office for a robotics workshop. When they arrived they were given a tour of the office by Laura Finneran our Academy Manager, and then were given an intro to robotics by one of our trainers. They were put into groups and together learnt how to build and code robots to move, light up and play music. After that, we had a lunch break where the girls heard from women role models in the business and were able to ask questions about their career journey and advice.

The Girls in ICT Day aimed to show women that there are opportunities for careers in STEM. We were thrilled to receive such positive feedback from the event with many girls admitting that they want to continue coding with Arduino cars and Sonic Pi in the future.

Code: sonic_pi_1

Code: sonic_pi_2

Code: sonic_pi_3

Code: sonic_pi_4

Code: sonic_Pi_5