SheCodes Foundation

India has amongst the lowest female labor force participation rates in the world (ILO).  Further, 95% percent of employed women are employed in the unorganised sector, or are in unpaid work. In corporate India, women represent a mere 30% of those employed. 

The institutional factors that affect females’ participation in a skilled workforce are gender bias, difficulties of accessibility, lack of resources, inadequate infrastructure, shortage of qualified teachers, and technical education in schools. 

Increasing women’s labor force participation by ten percentage points could add $770 billion to India’s GDP by 2025. 

 SheCodes Foundation aims to enrol 10,000 low-income girls (age 11 to 18) into free coding clubs by 2021 and 8,00,000 girls by 2025. So far, we have started 26 “SheCodes clubs” and enrolled nearly 1000 girls.  We have been able to achieve this with an agreement from the Delhi government and with facilitators  from IIT,Delhi. 

India is way lower than the global average when it comes to female labor force participation. 

Across India, 39.4% of girls aged 15-18 years drop out of school and college, according to a report by the NCPCR. The report said India’s formal education system does not provide the skills that children require to earn a livelihood. Adolescent girls in India are “especially disadvantaged”, also given their low school enrolment rates. They are among the most economically vulnerable groups who typically lack access to financial capital and have limited opportunities to gain the education, knowledge, and skills that can lead to economic advancement. 

In India, the investment of parents in children’s education, mostly in low-income families is gender-biased. Parental gender bias investment in girls education coupled with lack of skill education in schools causes girls to leave school early, leads to her involvement in household chores and early marriage, hence the gender gap in the workforce. 

There is a need to empower women in India through quality education and re-skilling. The education ecosystem needs to go through a set of system strengthening initiatives, including the introduction of digital and STEM education in schools, which will introduce girls to various career choices. 

 SheCodes Foundation aims to enrol 10,000 low-income girls (age 11 to 18) into free coding clubs by 2021 and 8,00,000 girls by 2025. So far, we have started 26 “SheCodes clubs” and enrolled nearly 1000 girls.  We have been able to achieve this with an agreement from the Delhi government and with facilitators  from IIT Delhi. 

With our partner organisation, Girls Who Code, we are able to provide girls with the opportunity to learn programming languages like Scratch, Python, Thunkable,  Javascript and Swift. Post completion of each language and level, they will be awarded certificates by SheCodes and our partner organisation, Girls Who Code. 

Our vision is to reach gender parity in the technology sector in India. Once girls acquire proficiency in coding skills at the school level, SheCodes will organise hackathons, and help them build the capacity to enter higher education, join startups and corporate jobs. We have also partnered with technical institutes like IIT Delhi in India to help girls enrol in higher education after school through scholarships and support them through mentorship.

Increasing women’s labor force participation by ten percentage points could add $770 billion to India’s GDP by 2025. 

SheCodes Foundation aims to empower girls in computer science education in government schools in the age group of 11-18 years. They face challenges accessing technical and quality education due to economic and social factors. 

By setting up coding clubs in government schools, we aim at serving the following: 

1. Girls- in government schools by imparting them free coding skills to make them job-ready after school through SheCodes clubs. 

2. School teachers-we provide training and mentorship to run coding clubs in schools and teachers learn to code while teaching, thereby increasing the number of skilled teachers in schools.

3. Government Schools- we help the school administration set up computer labs in schools to run the coding clubs to make technical education accessible to girls.  

We aim to cover and expand to all government schools in Delhi in the next five years which will give girls the tool to shine in their career and life. Moreover, employees in tech jobs earn 26% more than workers in other fields. On average, tech jobs pay 20,00,000 per year in India.  The fact that tech workers earn higher wages can be a good start to help bridge the gender gap. 

Our goal is to empower girls in India with technical knowledge in the fields of computing, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. The vision is to reduce the gender divide in the tech sector, achieve better digital literacy among females, and empower women to secure employment in the digital economy. 

Our solution will also increase the number of girls and young women participating in the formal economy and boost GDP and economic prosperity for all.