Tell us what made you interested in Coding. Describe your job and how you got involved?
I was a truck driver for years and I really wanted to do something more with my career, as I had just fell into that when I was younger during the mining boom in Western Australia. I travelled overseas a lot, and when I was in Peru I volunteered teaching English, I saw a lot of inefficiencies with the way the English curriculum was managed. There was a high turnover of volunteers but no good record keeping system. It made me think about how software could really help change the world, not everything had to be some glamorous app! So I decided that learning to code would mean I could help solve these types of problems.
- Is it a career you would recommend to other women?
Definitely! We are really lucky here in Australia to have a progressive tech industry with many great companies making progress for women to succeed in this industry. It’s so important to bring diversity in all forms to the workforce, it’s been shown that diverse workforces make more successful businesses. Different people think of different things. Think about it, designing an app so it can be used one handed, maybe because of an injury, but maybe because someone’s got a baby attached to their hip! We all bring our unique experiences that helps to craft good, inclusive technology.
- Why do so few women code compared to men and how can we change that?
The change is happening, but we still have a long way to go! We need to tackle it from different angles. There’s the pipeline, we need women coming through schools and universities in STEM subjects, and we have great organisations like Girl Geek Academy that are focusing on getting young girls into STEM. We also need to address the workplaces, and identify and resolve the issues that have women leaving the industry once they are working. Flexible work hours, workplaces that have part time positions, internal training and leadership programs, these are things that will help make the change we need!
- What are your favourite apps, gadgets?
For anyone that is interested in learning to code, I recommend freecodecamp.org – it’s really simple to get started, and progressively takes you in deeper!
I love the Headspace app, it’s not only beautiful app itself, but it really helps to get relax and centre myself after a day in front of the computer screen.
