It is estimated that, if there are no intervention, by 2040 only 1% of the tech sector will be female. Liverpool Girl Geeks are on a mission to change this by creating positive interventions such as events, courses and workshops to inspire women and girls of all ages.

Launched in 2013, by Chelsea Slater and Rebecca Jones as a blog and online community for women in tech, Liverpool Girl Geeks has grown into a thriving business offering both school-based, and 18+ development programs. Working with 15 companies across the Liverpool City Region and the North West, including Yozu and SyesGroup, Liverpool Girl Geeks is the social enterprise tackling the gender imbalance in tech to inspire the next generation of innovators.

LGG believe that the solution is to ensure young girls are exposed to opportunities in STEM (science, tech, engineering, math) from a young age.

Emily Cotter, LLG Marketing and Events manager spoke to I AM WOMAN.

Emily Cotter

“Young girls are often not encouraged to pursue a career in STEM at school and this, along with biases embedded within society, are a huge part of the reason why only 19% of the technical roles in the North West are held by women.”

The first 8-week LGG Academy for girls aged 11 – 17 took place in 2016, this was followed by the launch of their sister-brand InnovateHer, to focus primarily on teens. Liverpool Girl Geeks now focuses primarily on women 18+ looking to go into/are already in the industry, by running monthly meet-ups for those interested in tech (everyone is welcome) in partnership with Agent Academy and run coding crash courses in partnership with Northcoders.

Earlier this year, scientist Jess Wade discovered that only 17% of the biographies on English-speaking Wikipedia were about women, therefore as a result we are only hearing one side of the story. She began writing her own entries of every woman who has achieved something impressive in science to get the prominence and recognition they deserve. So far, she has done over 270 entries.

In support of this, Liverpool Girl Geeks are looking to hold their own Wikithon in the new year. Where people from around the Liverpool City Region can add and edit women’s stories on Wikipedia.

“There’s so many inspiring women in STEM doing incredible things and their stories deserve to be told,” Emily said.

In the UK, the percentage of female A-level physics students has stagnated at about 21% for the past decade and for computing the proportion of A-level students who are female is just 10%”. In Britain, fewer than 9% of professional engineers are women – a figure that is among the worst globally and which has not increased in the past decade. A recent study suggests it would take 258 years to close the gender gap in physics, based on current rates of progress.

Liverpool Girl Geeks, are working around the clock to innovate and inspire more women to get out and join the STEM industry.

“Don’t listen to anyone who tells you that you can’t do it. If you want to pursue a career in tech go for it and don’t look back! If you want to meet other women in the industry follow us online, come along to our meet-ups/events and get involved.”

If you’re interested in getting into the tech industry, or simply want to keep up to date with Liverpool Girl Geeks, go to their website: http://www.liverpoolgirlgeeks.co.uk/