76 fifth graders from Bodø have gathered at “Girl Tech Fest”. The national initiative teaches girls coding in a simple way so that they can more easily choose IT subjects in the future. A total of over 4,000 girls at 48 different places in Norway have taken part this year, according to the organizers themselves. 10-year-old Agnes is one of them. – We code. That means we tell the computer what to do, she says. – Is it difficult? – I thought it was very difficult at first, but now it is much easier. It’s actually quite easy once you get a recipe. System developer Emmy Sortland believes that all of this is important for the development of products in the future. – It’s very funny. This year we are almost 80 girls who will learn about technology. I hope they get a sense of mastery, and that they will hopefully choose IT subjects in the future, says Sortland before she continues to assist the young coders. Girls who get to frolic in several technological activities at the Girl Tech Fest in Stormen library in Bodø.Kai Jæger Kristoffersen / news Boys dominate the industry In recent years, fortunately, the arrows have pointed upwards for girls in IT-related study places, figures from the Ministry of Education show. 2,618 women and 4,571 men applied for IT subjects this year. This is a proportion of women of 36 per cent, up two percentage points from last year. Emmy Sortland says that it is important that technology is developed by both women and men. Photo: Kai Jæger Kristoffersen / news Does this mean that the goal has been reached? Not as long as the proportion of women in Norwegian developer positions has barely reached 20 per cent, says Sortland. – There are still not as many girls as boys who choose IT education, and when you make products for the entire population, it is important that they reflect the entire population, she says. Agnes (10) and Silje (10) at Girl Tech Fest in Bodø. Both think it was nice to be able to express themselves without boys present. Photo: Kai Jæger Kristoffersen / news Fifth-graders Agnes and Silje think it’s nice to get together, just the girls. – What do you think about the boys not being here today? – A bit strange, but also a bit good. It’s nice to get some time off from the boys. It’s nice to be with only girls, says Silje. – Are the boys tiring, don’t you think? – No, not always, but sometimes, she says with a smile. Photo: Kai Jæger Kristoffersen / news – Fantastic initiative If you want to talk about role models in the category of women in IT, Inga Strümke is perhaps one of the most prominent in Norway. Among other things, she has written a critically acclaimed book on artificial intelligence, and has no doubt that this is positive for getting more girls into the IT industry. – I think it is a fantastic measure. There has been an extreme imbalance with far fewer women in IT than men. There are people out there who think that it can be explained by biology, but there are probably social factors that make us where we are now. What the girls need are role models. She herself says that there weren’t many of them when she grew up in northern Norway in the 90s, but that she found the ones she needed. Inga Strümke has received a lot of praise for writing simply about KI’s influence on our society. Photo: Beate Oma Dahle / NTB – I was lucky, as I really struggled with maths and had a maths teacher, a woman who was very encouraging. It was she who encouraged me that I could enter NTNU if I wanted to, she says and adds: – Samantha Carter in the TV series Stargate was very cool. I think the “Girl Tech Fest” is going to help and it can bring a sense of community. Anyone who feels underrepresented will feel stronger if they meet like-minded people. Not on target CEO of PowerOffice, Lise Mentzoni, looks hopefully beyond the selection of coders of the future. Together with other technology companies in Bodø, they are the organizers of Girl Tech Fest. She says that it is important to weed out the boys, so that the girls can develop properly. – This is a real girl’s party. The reason we only want girls is that it is important to introduce technology to them at that age. It comes more naturally to boys to go in the technological direction, so here we focus on girls being able to take a bigger step in the industry. She says that the gender ratio in her own company is better than the average. CEO of PowerOffice, Lise Mentzoni. Photo: Kai Jæger Kristoffersen / news – It is relatively good, we are at 43 per cent, so it is quite high for the IT industry. We are happy about that, since we have focused on ensuring diversity. – Does an increasing proportion of female students mean that you are on target with women in the IT industry? – I would in no way claim that, but it is a very positive trend. It shows that this type of measure actually works. – Could there be potential employees here, do you think? – Absolutely, our future technologists can sit in this room. VR glasses are good entertainment for the fifth grade girls at Stormen library in Bodø. Photo: Kai Jæger Kristoffersen / news Published 01.11.2024, at 15.50
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Emmy Sortland helps young girls choose IT education – news Nordland
