Breaking the [gender] code

It’s hard to find an industry in which coding is not on the verge of revolutionizing. According to most technology industry statistics, including the Women Who Code Fact Sheet, it’s even harder to find a tech industry where women are proportionally represented as technology leaders, start-up founders, executives and software engineers compared to men. 

Women Who Code Birmingham offers resources and networking for women, men and companies that seek to have the technology field more equally represented.

“[Through Women Who Code] I want to encourage people to do anything they put their minds to. It can be scary, even just opening up to people for help to navigate your career,” said Rebeccah Wrady, a quality assurance engineer at Atlas RFID and one of the directors of Women Who Code Birmingham. 

When Wrady switched jobs from Mercedes to work for a construction software company, she was already comfortable navigating a male-centric industry because of her college experiences in engineering and various internships, as well as her first job being male-dominated. 

“Everyone in tech fields sees Mark Zuckerburg, Bill Gates, and it is a little scary entering because you’re like, ‘I’m going to be the only girl,’” Wrady said. 

Wrady said she still thinks switching jobs was one of the best decisions she made — in addition to signing on to be a director for Women Who Code Birmingham— since Birmingham has such an open and welcoming tech community. She’s excited to see more people — both male and female — enter the industry or learn the ropes of coding and new skills through the organization.

“Maybe they have a really good idea and need to know the coding side, or the opposite. We help people match-make, take what you’re already good at and push it forward,” said Nicole Mubarak, who works as a software developer for BBVA Compass and is the other director of Women Who Code Birmingham.

Women Who Code is a national organization that seeks to inspire women to excel in technology careers. The nonprofit provides access to programs and resources, empowers members with professional and educational skills and enables more accessible networking and mentorship for people seeking roles in technology and computer engineering. The national organization has more than 100,000 members and spans more than 20 countries. 

“Something I heard a lot of the time [about Women Who Code Birmingham] is that you don’t feel like it’s a clique. People feel welcome,” Mubarak said, and that’s what they’re all about.

Women Who Code Birmingham was launched in May 2014 when it was approved by the national organization. What started out as a 150-member chapter soon doubled in size to more than 330 members, both male and female. Mubarak said they love having both men and women as part of the organization. 

“People can actually have a conversation on how to include women in the workforce then,” Mubarak said. “People don’t want to be singled out; that is what is important about Women Who Code: it’s inclusive [and] is open to anyone who likes to code.”

Mubarak said Women Who Code meetups provide a space where coders can tackle one of the hardest problems: knowing the vocabulary and industry lingo. 

“The conversation with guys seems to be more technical; with women it is more like why I got into this industry and this is what I do,” Wrady said. “I think it’s really nice to have that atmosphere where it is okay when you have no idea what to say,” but can learn.

Women Who Code Birmingham offers a range of free career development meetings, “Code Cafe” events at Innovation Depot where people can learn about coding and networking, panels on software development, workshops on resumes and interview preparation, as well as various other events like the Magic City Hacks, which celebrated Birmingham’s Innovation Week in August.

“You can come from any background and learn to code and use it for almost anything,” Mubarak said. “People can have their own small business or make ideas come to life, or if you haven’t been in the workforce very long, you can find an employer to work with or get an internship.”

The events Women Who Code Birmingham put together encourage making connections and networking in the Birmingham tech community, as well as other Women Who Code communities. 

“One of the things I like about Women Who Code is you can push [members] to the right people. Even if you’re new, you kind of get pushed into this whole universe,” Wrady said. 

The 2017 Magic City Hacks, hosted for 24 hours Aug. 26-27, consisted of seven teams competing to design and pitch an idea for a mobile application. This year’s hack-a-thon was so successful that the group is planning to host two separate competitions next year.

The point of the event, Mubarak said, was to show people how much they could actually accomplish in only 24 hours, and how in reality, coding is all about working together as a team, addressing a need and figuring out how to meet it. 

Some of the app ideas presented at the end of the event included a place to pull medical survey data, a Yelp-like app for hunting spots, an app similar to Tinder for events, an improved version of Meetup and the winner, an app that showcased only positive news.

“Our hope is that next year, people will get to present their ideas, and REV Birmingham will get to see, as well as investors,” Mubarak said. 

In the spring of 2018, they will also be hosting their first “hire-a-thon,” which will be similar to the hack-a-thon in format, except it will probably span an entire weekend and be about working with companies on projects instead of making an app of their choice. The weekend, Wrady said, will be like a “short internship,” and they plan to invite students from colleges all over the Southeast. 

“This will be a different way for companies to look at new talent, and a sniffer and feeler for coders to look at companies,” Mubarak said.

All their competitions and meetings are open to anyone who codes, whether they’re in high school, fresh out of college, in the middle of switching careers or retired and looking to learn new skills. 

To learn more about how to get involved with Women Who Code Birmingham, go to womenwhocode.com/birmingham or email nicole@womenwhocode.com.