Women in Tech: Debugging the Gender Gap

Every community needs diversity. Drupal is no exception. But you have heard about the gender gap in tech, haven’t you? The facts speak for themselves: only 20% of the visitors at DrupalCon Dublin 2016 were women; roughly half of them are programmers and developers. Indeed, the gender gap in technology has been getting worse since the 1980s. No wonder it is such a hot topic now. The questions that arise are: 1. How big is the gender gap? 2. Why is it crucial to close it? 3. What can we do to fix it? In our session we will not only tackle these problems but also suggest a way out of them. The aim of the talk is to provide the tools and to outline the roadmap of how tech communities, and the Drupal one in particular, can encourage women in tech to start their careers in technology and become role models for future generations. What’s in it for you? Allow us to... 1. Identify the problem of the gender gap in tech and illustrate the related numbers; 2. Present the results of our “Coding Girls” video survey. 3. Introduce role models from tech communities to empower girls and women; 4. Share a personal story by a passionate Drupal developer, Maria Totova. Provide a guideline on how we can close the gender gap in technology and build the foundations of trust, respect and support with the help of the Coding Girls Foundation. It is important to underline that our session is not only for women - it is for everyone who is willing to create a more attractive and fun workplace for all of us. We would love to hear your point of view, ideas and suggestions as well! Let’s break the status quo together and build an empowering and inclusive community for everybody. Women in Tech: Closing the gender gap…Are you ready?