ourselves in the culture of our
target audience for eighteen
months before inventing a highly
gamified, story-driven approach to
teach unfamiliar skills to complete
beginners. Beta-testing for one
year with Oasis Academies in the
UK showed that E.A.K. inspires
female students to become
researchers, teachers, problem
solvers, team builders, writers,
designers, and coders.
A tool specifically designed to
inspire girls to code and create,
would allow them promising
benefits. Primarily, this would help
them grow with more confidence
in our increasingly digital world.
They can become future creators
of influential technologies. Such
will also allow them to earn an
equal amount of wage with their
male counterparts. Moreover, they
can become the much-needed role
models of the next generation.
We aim to help improve gender
equality in tech which in turn
will address the chronic skills
shortage in the tech market. We
are designing and building E.A.K.
to deliver essential skills and
capabilities to girls to prepare
them for 21st Century degrees
and careers, so that they can
participate in the economy and
society. Our goal is to allow them
to acquire the skills to enable them
to become tomorrow’s innovators
and creative problem-solvers. We
are also creating a one-for-one
scheme—for each E.A.K. account
bought, a free account will be
given to a girl in Syria or India—via
NGOs we have partnered with, e.g.
Techfugees.
Around 100 million students have
downloaded programs from the
Hour of Code initiative, which
suggests a sizeable market of
users trying to up their skills. There
are around 6000 code clubs
teaching 83,000 students in the
UK, and more than 10,000 teaching
100,000 students globally. The
average ratio of boys to girls who
attend coding clubs is estimated at
approximately 5:1. Girls Who Code,
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Change Magazine September 2017 www.changemag-diinsider.com
a non-profit organisation providing
coding clubs for girls aged 8+
in the US, has grown from 20 to
40,000 girls in just four years—
this shows that there is far more
interest when girls are targeted
separately.
By encouraging girls to start
coding, we can start to grow a
more gender-balanced digital
workforce. This opens up new
opportunities for employment for
girls in the years ahead and will act
as a bulwark as we seek to keep
the leading tech economy. With
only 5% of start-ups headed by
women, the need to fuel innovation
and new ideas is essential.
By eliminating the negative
perception that girls have of
technology, and providing
an engaging, creative way to
effectively learn real coding
languages, E.A.K. will help to
prepare girls for 21st Century
careers.
About the Author
Shwetal Shah, has worked as an Analyst for One point
Consulting in London and now works at Drumroll HQ
developing a video game teaching programming to kids.
After graduating with a Masters in International Marketing, in
her spare time she runs an organization to promote women
scientists work (Explore-Science), made two documentaries
to empower youth and women, and working on a project to
tackle isolation (Morsel). Was recently named the Code first
Girls Ones to Watch 2017, won the o2 Think Big Best STEM
Award 2016, Business Launchpad female entrepreneur
of the year award 2017, nominated for the Telegraph in
association with BAE and Scottish Power Top 50 under
35 women in engineering list, Social Enabler Top 30 2017
and recently named a young leader for the Franco British
leadership programme.
www.changemag-diinsider.com Change Magazine September 2017
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