Less than 25% of STEM jobs are filled by women in Ireland according to latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.
To counteract this problem, an initiative aimed at encouraging more women to take up roles in technology and entrepreneurship was launched by Code First: Girls.
Code First: Girls is a social enterprise that has delivered over £1.5 million of free education over the past three years and taught over 2500 women how to code for free.
Additionally over the past 18 months, they have had over 3,000 women participate in one of their courses or events and have supported companies to recruit better tech talent into their firms.
Code First: Girls hosted its inaugural event, ‘Hack Your Career’, in Dublin last night in partnership with Bank of America Merrill Lynch and their Women in Technology and Operations (WIT&O) advocacy network.
They have a number of similar initiatives lined up in Ireland over the coming months including a coding course for girls not directly enrolled in tech-related courses, hosted and supported by Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT).
As part of the partnership with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, two of the course tutors will be bank employees.
Speaking at last night’s event, Country Executive for Ireland at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Peter Keegan said, "We are delighted to support such a worthwhile social enterprise as it launches in Dublin. The bank’s Women in Technology & Operations mission is to attract, develop and retain female talent in technology, and partnering with Code First: Girls gives us the opportunity to show our commitment to furthering women’s careers in this space. We wish Code First: Girls the very best in their endeavours in Dublin and look forward to supporting them at this, and at upcoming events."
Source:www.businessworld.ie
