How the community "Women Who Code" came to Russia and why do we need coding
Text: Maria Servetnik
We have written more than once that programming is the future, and girls are interested in such a future as much as professional growth in any other field. This could be seen at the first Russian meeting of the Women Who Code community, held in Moscow with the support of Yandex. It is important to make a reservation that the branch "Women Who Code" in Russia does not yet exist, but we are sure that right now we need it more than ever.
In 2011, the "Women Who Code" community was a group of American programmers who gathered once a month to code together. Three years later, community offices exist in 14 countries, and it itself has become a powerful independent organization with a beautiful and, most importantly, necessary goal: to unite 1 million women working in the IT sphere by 2019. It may even be considered a trade union of the new format, even a women's circle of interests - the contribution of the “Women Who Code” to the strengthening of the position of women in the industry will not change.
Today, the community helps participants to start a career in IT, acquire the necessary skills for professional growth and find mentors, but the most important thing is that it inspires women to do what they love despite any difficulties. At the "Women Who Code" meetings, participants learn new programming languages, communicate with recruiters of large IT companies, learn how to properly pass interviews, and generally do everything to succeed professionally. CEO of "Women Who Code" Elaine Percival is confident that in the future all industries will be connected with IT: "If a woman is interested in working in the banking sector, in healthcare, in fashion, all these industries will look for programmers. For example, Nike, a company that produces shoes, now wants to hire 200 people to their team of digital technology. "
Elena Pychenkova, a member of the Women Who Code association in San Francisco, arrived at the Yandex office. She told what the organization is and what needs to be done to launch its branch in Russia. “This is an incredible story - a very friendly, free community that is ready to answer all your questions, arrange free educational groups and hold weekly meetings. I go there every time and give a fuck,” it is easy to explain Pychenkova’s feelings.
"Women Who Code" is completely built on the desire of some people to help others
Today, "Women Who Code" is helped by such giants as Facebook and Twitter: they provide premises, communicate with the participants, while they themselves receive extra advertising and the opportunity to find employees at an early stage. Among the community members or professionals who sympathize with him, there is often a person who is ready to teach others what he can do, from Ruby to database design. At the Moscow meeting, one girl whispers incredulously to another: "How much is he ready to do this for free?" The answer is simple - if community members cannot find an expert who wants to share knowledge, then use Coursera and similar resources.
"Women Who Code" is completely built on the desire of some people to help other people and their industry as a whole. The mechanism is simple: for a “Women Who Code” branch to appear in the city, you need a girl who will become the main organizer and will be engaged in moderating and other administrative affairs of the branch. Participants from San Francisco are ready to help in every possible way and hope that the chapter "Women Who Code Russia" will appear at conferences and speak on behalf of the community.
In the US, to organize a meeting of the community, the girls create an event through the popular Meetup service. There you need to specify the subject and number of participants, find a place, choose the time - it would seem, nothing complicated. “I don’t know which resource can replace Meetup in Russia,” sighs Elena Pychenkova. The audience immediately prompts in chorus: "VKontakte!"
"A modern woman working in IT knows how to communicate, loves to learn and solve problems," says Elaine Percival. I look at the girls who came to the meeting, and I remember all the stereotypes about programmers as girls in sweaters and without makeup - not that there was something wrong with them, but this is simply not true. In this meeting at the Yandex office, I counted three girls with colored hair, eight in their jackets, six in funny T-shirts, nine in heels and almost twenty in glasses. They are all different, and it surprises me more than it should.
In Russia, obviously, has its own specifics: if in the West we assume that there is no sexism in the IT industry, it means not to admit the obvious, then we - on a global scale - are just beginning to think what sexism is all about. The idea that a person can come and spend his time to help someone and not take money for it often seems absurd to us. The social institution of volunteering, which has been developing in the USA since the 19th century, came to us in the mid-1990s and, accordingly, was late.
Muscovites, who listened to Elena Pychenkova, were even ready to sign up as a member of the Russian "Woman Code" and help the community, but no one dared to take on the responsibilities of the organizer. The classic problem is to find a “ideological” leader, a girl who is ready to take responsibility on her shoulders, and this is already a topic for another discussion about the role of man in history.