https://www.polit.mn/a/96455

The UN website published an article titled “Teaching Girls How to Code Can Change the World.” Back in 1833, the modern coding movement was pioneered by a young English mathematician, Ada Lawless. Since then, women have been more involved in coding during the early stages of the IT industry. But times have changed.

In 1995, women made up 37 percent of computer scientists; today, that figure has dropped to 24 percent. The gender balance in the IT industry has not been balanced in Mongolia either. According to a human resources survey conducted by the Ministry of Electronic Development and Communications, which included 286 IT managers and engineers from 151 organizations, the gender balance is twofold. Specifically, 64 percent of those working in this industry are men and 36 percent are women.

Statistics on newly graduated students show that this gender gap is not going to narrow, but rather widen. For example, out of more than 31,000 students graduating in the 2020-2021 academic year, 887 were in the field of communications and information technology. 72.2 percent of them are men and 27.8 percent are women.

If we sit idly by, women in the IT sector may become “invisible.” Therefore, training and activities to teach girls and women to code are intensifying around the world in order to eliminate gender inequality in the IT sector. Mongolia is not left behind in this wave.

“In this era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the rapid digital transformation, technology and coding have become indispensable skills. As a result, the gender gap in the IT sector is increasing. Therefore, the “Girls Code Program” was initiated with the aim of reducing gender inequality in the industry, creating female software engineers, and empowering girls and women living in rural and remote areas,” said B. Bolor-Erdene, State Secretary of the Ministry of Electronic Development and Communications. She was included in the “30 Under 30 in Asia” list by Forbes magazine, “Time” magazine, “Next Generation Leaders,” and recently in the “Future 50” list by the PMI Institute.

The Girls Code Program was first implemented last year, involving 30 girls from 21 aimags and nine districts. Seven of the girls who participated in the program have qualified for scholarship programs at major universities around the world and are studying information technology, while the others have started sharing their knowledge by creating websites for their high schools and establishing coding clubs at their schools.

S.Gandhi

For example, S.Gandhi, a 2021 graduate of the Girls Code Program, from Orkhon province, is set to study data science at New York University in the United States on a scholarship. “At first, I had very little knowledge and understanding of coding and was a little unsure about it. But after I started learning from the teachers, I felt confident that I could do it, and after traveling to companies, I realized the value of this profession. That’s when I decided that I had to study in a technology major,” said S.Gandhi. After graduating and gaining experience, she plans to contribute to the development of information technology in Mongolia, noting that “the coding program was the biggest impetus for me to choose a career and get into university.”

This year, out of 1,500 children who registered for the program, 50 were selected, which shows that there is a high demand for training among girls. “Out of 1,500 children who applied, 50 have passed, so I see a great future. In addition to acquiring many skills during the study, we have made friends. It gave us a starting point for learning how to make a website. We are also being taught by teachers from the National University of Mongolia, learning English from an Indian teacher, and preparing for IELTS. This is a big advantage,” B. Enkhzul, a participant in this year’s program, told us. She took advantage of the pandemic to start publishing an English newspaper at her school. She said that she is now learning to code and is planning to create a website for her newspaper. Speaking about her participation in the coding program for the summer after coming from Moron, B. Enkhzul said, “I had no knowledge about coding before. During the pandemic, I realized that technology is important and became interested. Also, because information technology has become a skill that everyone, not just boys, should master, I applied for the girls’ coding program last year but was not accepted. But I am happy to have re-registered and accepted this year.”

B. Enkhzul

The program has special criteria. Students who live in remote aimags, soums, and districts, who cannot regularly attend online courses, who are high school students, have basic English language skills, and are able to cope with the workload. In addition, they must spend two months of their summer vacation on coding training and be interested in studying information technology in the future. Girls who pass the first stage of the program will be able to participate in the second stage of the selection process, which is an online English and mathematics test, and will be interviewed.

Thus, the program, which overcomes public attitudes and stereotypes and “enlightens” the representation of girls who will break the mold in IT, will continue successfully and will be implemented every year. However, in order to encourage many girls and young people who have started coding, driven by their interests and have bigger goals, E. Bilguun-Erdene, CEO of the information security company “Zeroday LLC”, spoke about the future and importance of information technology, saying, “Looking at the future vision of social use and information security, it is time to pay attention to our education system. In order to protect teenagers from risks, there is a need to provide them with quality knowledge and understanding that meets modern requirements from a young age. Also, looking at the future economic opportunities, the information technology profession will be the most sought-after and valuable. Therefore, in addition to paying attention to the education of citizens, we need to understand that future skilled specialists will be born from this sector,” he said.

Source: “Century News” newspaper

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