Although many workplaces have become much more diverse over the past few decades, the vast majority of software engineering, cybersecurity, and other tech jobs are filled by men. However, a diverse workforce (especially in the IT industry) means a richer company culture, happier and more productive employees, and the ability to innovate products that appeal to all sectors of society.
While women are still very much under-represented in the tech industry, there has been a small but steady increase in the number of female technologists over the past years, according to AnitaB.org’s latest report, which is promising.
By the way, did you know that Bulgaria has the highest proportion of female ICT specialists in the EU?
A lot of progress has already been made in terms of diversity but unfortunately we still have a long way to go. With the help of ground-breaking, global organizations and initiatives that support the promotion of women in the workplace, females are being encouraged more than ever before to consider careers in STEM, and tech employers are being encouraged to employ women.
Here are just some of these organizations and initiatives:
Global 🌍
WomenTech Network believes that women are just as (if not more so) competent as their male counterparts in the tech industry. They regularly arrange networking events and provide mentorship programs and opportunities for professional growth for female tech professionals throughout the world.
Women Who Code was started back in 2011 and initially served the organization’s local community. Today, WWCode has a whopping 230,000 members—software engineers, data scientists, solutions architects, and more—in 122 countries and shows no signs of slowing down. Joining Women Who Code will give you access to coding resources, a global community, and the WWCode job board.
Tech Ladies is a leading platform that provides women with information on up and coming positions in the tech industry and provides useful information on a wide range of tech companies.
Girls Who Code understands that careers in the tech industry still seems unattainable or unattractive to many young women. Their goal is to change this perception and to change the image of a programmer.
Women in AI provides support and mentorship to females in the field of AI. This popular organization is the first of its kind to support women in AI and boasts over 5,000 members in more than 100 countries. They have played a large role in promoting more diversity in their field.
With more than 30 global chapters and over 12,000 community members, WiD is a non-profit international organization that exists to increase gender diversity in the field of data science and analytics.
If you are a female tech professional, joining Ascend is free of charge and will provide you with excellent support and information on how to excel in your field.
With members in more than 100 countries, Women in Tech is dedicated to closing the gender gap in the tech field. Their global reach means that they are able to support the education and training of women who wish to pursue tech careers.
Ada’s List was initially founded to provide a supportive and useful community for women in the tech field. Although they never dreamed that they would become as large as they are today (with over 7,500 members), they simply wanted to help women find great jobs, suppliers and vendors, in addition to providing great quality advice.
Whether you are a young, female tech professional or an experienced tech leader, PowerToFly has something for all women in the tech industry. They have many useful resources, information on new jobs and a community of like-minded professionals.
Elpha is a community of women professionals in the tech industry. On this platform, women can ask important questions, join their mentorship program, and encourage one another in a supportive environment.
Born in Helsinki, Rails Girls is nowadays a global movement designed to encourage more women and girls to get involved in coding. Since 2010, they have arranged hundreds of free Ruby on Rails workshops around the world.
With over 100 local Meetup groups, PyLadies is a global community for aspiring and experienced female developers who are passionate about the Python programming language.
Geek Girls Carrots is one of the biggest communities of women in tech. Established in Poland in 2011, this organization now operates all around the world. Through meetups, tech workshops, and other events, it is striving to bring more women into the tech workforce.
Like other initiatives and organizations mentioned in this list, Girls in Tech is working to eliminate the gender gap in tech. Since 2007, it has grown into a global community with more than 50 chapters and over 100,000 members around the globe. Programming and events vary by chapter based on local interests and needs. Membership is free.
Founded by Rachel Thomas and Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg in 2013, LeanIn.org is a movement dedicated to helping women achieve their ambitions. One of its key initiatives—Lean In Circles—provides an opportunity for tens of thousands of women around the world to meet with peers, get/give peer mentorship, and sharpen their skills. Lean In’s partner network now boasts over 1,400 companies and organizations, including LinkedIn and Salesforce, who are publicly committed to gender equality.
With a few dozens of local communities in different countries, AnitaB.org is rightly considered one of the leading organizations for women in technology. All its events and programs are aimed at promoting diversity and helping women to achieve success in tech.
Ladies that UX is a welcoming and collaborative community of women who work in UX. They meet monthly to talk about UX and exchange knowledge. The community has a growing number of local groups based in different cities worldwide, including Amsterdam, Berlin, London, Boston, Seattle, and Melbourne.
Women Who Tech works to get more women-led startups funded. Through the Women Startup Challenge, an 8-week virtual program, they provide funding, mentoring, and other resources for women entrepreneurs building innovative tech products to solve real-world issues.
Latinas in Tech was started in Silicon Valley in 2014 and has since grown into a 12,000-strong community with chapters in 15+ locations, including Austin, Chicago, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Mexico, New York City, and Seattle. Their mission is to connect, support, and empower Latina women working in tech and to create safe spaces for learning, mentorship, and recruitment. The members of Latinas in Tech meet regularly to advance their careers and host professional development workshops every week.
Founded and led by females, CodeOp is a women-focused tech school offering Full Stack Development, Data Analytics, and Product Management courses. The school operates globally through its remote programs and has campuses for in-person learning in Barcelona (HQ) and Kuala Lumpur. CodeOp is not just a bootcamp; it’s a community of 18-45 year old women, trans, and gender non-conforming people from over 50 countries worldwide.
Like Minded Females (LMF) Network CIC
LMF Network CiC is a community founded by Sonya Barlow to reduce inequalities in tech, entrepreneurship, and digital by providing a foundation to succeed to women and underrepresented minorities. Since 2018, they have delivered more than 200 workshops globally, trained over 20,000 people, and partnered with some of the world’s top companies like Google and Vodafone. The network currently has chapters in the UK and Canada.
Australia 🇦🇺
Running workshops on Node.js and JavaScript, MusesCodeJS believes that women are just as competent as men when it comes to IT careers.
Code Like a Girl is a Melbourne-based initiative that supports women to enter, and succeed, in the world of coding. Besides regular events for women in tech, this social enterprise is offering coding camps for girls and online short courses for adults. What’s more, they are connecting Australia’s leading companies with talented women looking to get their foot in the door.
Finland 🇫🇮
The purpose of Mimmit koodaa, the program powered by the Finnish Software and E-business Association and its member companies, is to shatter stereotypes about women in coding and bridge the gender gap in the Finnish software industry. The program currently boasts over 6,000 adult women participating.
France 🇫🇷
50inTech is a platform connecting women in tech with fellow peers, companies, and investors to achieve greater diversity and inclusion in the industry. (Joining the platform is free.) In addition to regular events, the team also launched a podcast dedicated to building a successful career in tech and growing a business.
Regular meetups for women in fintech in Paris. The community currently consists of 300 members.
Netherlands 🇳🇱
Women Hiring Circle aims to support women who are seeking a job opportunity or the next step in their career. It’s a community-driven initiative that opens a dialogue between female professionals to successfully reach their potential in the local job market.
Since its founding in 2014, RightBrains has been laser-focused on increasing the number of women working in digital-focused roles. Its platform offers an opportunity for women to learn, network, and get inspired for a career in digital technology.
Techionista is a Dutch platform that encourages women to consider a career in tech and provides support for such women.
SheSharp is a nonprofit aimed at fostering diversity and inclusion in tech and entrepreneurship. They regularly host events—public talks, (coding) workshops, panel events, or interviews—covering topics like data science, machine learning, IoT, front end development, DevOps, QA, and much more.
This initiative exists to help women develop the necessary skills to flourish in the tech sector. In addition to a 5-month mentorship program, they regularly host meetups, workshops, and other events in Amsterdam.
United States 🇺🇸
Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS)
As the name suggests, WiCyS is a fast-growing group of female cybersecurity professionals. The organization’s long-term goal is to ensure that there is much more gender equality and diversity in the field and they do this by encouraging the recruitment and promotion of women in cybersecurity. WiCyS offers mentoring, training programs, scholarships, virtual and in-person conferences, leadership series, career fairs, webinars, and more to women at all stages of their cybersecurity career journey!
Started as a small coffee meetup in NYC in 2015, Tech Ladies is nowadays a worldwide community with 100,000 members. Through a supportive online group, a free job board, and opportunities to learn, it helps women and non-binary people in tech grow their careers.
Through mentorship, community engagement, and educational resources, Rewriting the Code supports and empowers college and early career women with a passion for technology to thrive in the industry. The community currently boasts over 9,500 members.
Write/Speak/Code is on a mission to promote the visibility and leadership of women and non-binary technologists through peer-led professional development. The organization runs conferences, workshops, and events across the country and currently has communities in at least six major US cities such as SF, NYC, Austin, Seattle, LA, and Chicago.
League of Women Coders brings the brightest female minds together to discuss tech, hack on projects, and share ideas. Every month, they run meetups in NYC and Washington, DC.
This is a non-exhaustive list of global and local communities of women in tech. To view the full list, follow this link to the original article.
Top comments (4)
Mimmit Koodaa in Finland has changed their URL
Thanks a lot for all these amazing resources 🙏
Thanks.
Great list! Thanks :)