Changing The Game with Wilson Casado - Kate Kirwin

Kate Kirwin is the founder of “She Codes;”, and a passionate advocate for the inclusion of women in STEM whom I’ve had the pleasure to interview recently on the Changing The Game Podcast.

The West, recently described Kate’s mission as follows: “Kate Kirwin likes to imagine a world where young girls aspire to be programmers in the same way they might dream of being ballerinas”.

With this in mind we had an incredibly productive talk about inclusion, equality and the challenges she has faced while working to make her vision a reality and change the game.

Closed Doors

“We’re really trying to explore those stereotypes about women in technology”, Kate states as she reminisces about She Codes’s upcoming six years birthday, and the cultural barriers that women face in STEM.

Kate doesn’t really have a technological background, something that she attributes to the fact that it was never really posed to her as an option, a problem that seems to be widespread across the globe.

In general, STEM fields, (that being science, technology, engineering and mathematics) are rarely portrayed as places for women, or somewhere women can flourish, which keeps young girls from even considering such areas for their future.

That is, of course, when people don’t just flat out say that these career paths are not for women, because they are not “safe”, a fallacy that She Codes has dedicated itself to debunk.

The Importance of An Invitation

The absence of women in STEM fields is something I was able to notice for myself as it has always been hard to find women candidates, and no wonder as only 26.7%, of all workers in this market are female.

When I asked what we could do to change this reality, Kate mentioned the importance of making that invitation to young girls as so many of them are told no by counselors, by their parents and so many people that shut that door for them.

So holding that door open for these women, and helping them make a foothold in STEM, is one of the best ways to change things, and the main concern of She Codes.

Discovering Tech As a Woman

Kate attests to the importance of this invitation herself, as she recalls how her background was in events and that she only awoke to her interest in technology while working on an event called Space Keep in Perth, Australia.

“I didn’t know any of that, I knew events, and I just got really curious. Do I find out what our members are doing, how do I find out what the startups are doing, how do I speak the same language as them”

So, she did what most people do at an event and attended as many panels as she could, but at tech events she started to feel uncomfortable at how the environment was not welcoming to her “as a woman or as a beginner”.

From there on she started to participate on more and more groups to learn coding, until she was approached with an invitation start a community dedicated to helping women to get into codeing.

Changing The Numbers Game

Today, She Codes has helped over 4000 young women insert themselves in the coding microcosm along six years of female exclusive coding workshops, and Kate stated that they even had people who had a STEM background seeking them out.

“There was this one event where I was standing in line to talk with the speaker and the girl behind me was like ‘oh wait I know you, you’re Kate from SheCodes’”

After Kate had confirmed it was indeed her, the girl explained how she had gone through their program and was now working on robotics, and how that “Yes, you can do this”, was a turning point in her life.

A Bright Future Ahead

Under the light of the upcoming sixth anniversary for She Codes, Kate speaks about the future of She Codes with great enthusiasm, speaking about new programs to be launched in Port Headland and all the other regions that She Codes was able to touch.

She also spoke about how Covid has pushed the organisation to embrace online seminaries to a greater extent, which has students a lot more comfortable during workshops and increased the range of She Codes.

Lastly there was the mention of She Codes’ major long term goal which is the insertion of over one hundred thousand women on the technology field by 2025 across Australia, as she says this, she remarks “only 96 thousand to go!”.

This is a wonderful mindset to have, especially if you are looking to change the game in a big way, you need to dream big, after all dreaming small or big takes the same amount of effort, the only variance is in the results.

A Worthy Challenge

As you hear about Kate’s goal, you may be wondering why one hundred thousand specifically. why not five hundred thousand or a million, if we have to dream big in order to change the game.

Kate explains that this is due to a study that came out which states that Australia needs two hundred thousand people in the tech industry across the country to remain globally competitive in the field.

The main goal for She Codes, therefore, is to ensure that at least half of these needed job entries to be filled by women, which according to her “still wouldn’t be 50/50 diversity”, but it would be a really good place to start.

Conclusion

When we talk about changing the game, that is to say, changing the world in ways that make life a more free and beneficial experience for a greater number of people, our one guiding factor the trajectory that has gotten us this far.

Kate Kirwin was moved by the sensation of being unwelcome as a woman in technology directed events and situations, and instead of being turned away from it, she took it upon herself to create a space where her and other women wouldn’t fell like that again.

This is an important lesson to take away from my talk with her, we change the game by looking at what we don’t like about the way it is played, and if everyone starts doing that, it will always change for the better.