Tarika Barrett is the CEO of Girls Who Code, an international nonprofit organization working to close the gender gap in technology which has helped over 450,000 students to date. She joins rolling out to discuss how she is forging a space for marginalized girls in the computer science and coding industry.
Can you introduce yourself to our audience and share your vision?
I recently stepped into the seat as CEO of Girls Who Code after working with the organization for five years. Girls Who Code is an international nonprofit committed to closing the gender gap in education, in terms of entry-level tech jobs by 2030. And, 50% of the girls that we serve come from historically underrepresented groups. I’m deeply committed to issues of equity.
So when you think about you’re shaping the future of so many young women, what would you say to the moms, who are literally working to coach their daughters toward tech, and understanding data science is the new job?
I have a 12-year-old daughter myself, I think we have to be pragmatic as a mom to start. Tech jobs are the fastest growing and highest paying in our economy. It is a sector slated to grow 11%, between 2019 and 2029, so half a million new jobs. But we have certain archetypes where women of color have made strides, and then tech where those role models are fewer. You can’t be what you can’t see. So we need to have these women in tech role models for our young women to be able to see themselves in these roles. There’s also what we have to ask: what happens to these young women when they get their first job in tech? Are they being supported? Or is there a punishing work culture that doesn’t even support them? And I can go one step before that, hiring practices. It’s something that we have to continue to press because these issues leave all this amazing talent on the table, which we can’t afford to do.
Continue reading on the next page.
