Can’t code, won’t code - cracking the secret of gender imbalance in STEM

Hello codebar Sydney! | Charlotte Jackson, Front-end developer

People of Sydney, you’re in luck. Charlotte is starting up a Sydney chapter of Codebar. If you know someone there who is under-represented in the tech industry, and they’re looking to learn how to code, please tell them about this.

Some want to become full-time developers, whereas others want to learn the basics of coding to enhance their current jobs. Some want to learn programming as a hobby. Whatever the reason, we’d love to see you there!

Also, if you’re a developer in Sydney, please consider becoming a tutor at Codebar.

I promise that tutoring is not scary! We ask that you let us know which areas you feel comfortable tutoring when you sign up, so you choose what you teach. It’s absolutely okay to not know answers during sessions, but knowing how to look for them is helpful.

Oh, and if you’ve got a space in Sydney that can accommodate a class, please, please consider become a Codebar sponsor.

Codebar Coach Guide

It’s a short list, but this brief guide for coaches at Codebar is packed with excellent advice for anybody getting into teaching or training:

• Do not take over the keyboard! This can be off-putting and scary.
• Encourage the students to type and not copy paste.
• Assume that anyone you’re teaching has no knowledge but infinite intelligence.

Less Bro-gramming: Net Natives host and sponsor Codebar | Net Natives

An excellent potted history from Cassie on women in computing.

NASA’s “Keypunch girls” would work in cramped rows translating programming instructions onto paper pads, whilst the machine operators would sit in comfort, feeding the code decks through card readers and enjoying the esteem of the end result (I imagine it a bit like Mad Men, but with more sexism and astronauts).