Hack On!

According to United States Department of Commerce reports, women hold just 25 percent of STEM jobs.

Top women don’t think that’s good enough (and neither do we!), so they’re out to boost the number of women in science, technology, engineering and math fields.

AT&T is one example. They recently hosted their first Women in Tech Hackathon in the heart of Silicon Valley.

What’s a hackathon?

Think the Next Food Network Star or Pillsbury Bake-off – but for building mobile applications.

Participants pitch ideas, form teams and build apps to be demoed for prizes.

For the first few years, AT&T struggled to get women to the event. So, Carlton Hill, vice president of developer services, decided it was time to tap women’s groups.

“Reaching out particularly to women resulted in lots of women, new people and fresh perspectives. That was very satisfying,” says Hill.

Eighty percent of this year’s participants were women. Teams were required to have at least one woman, and many were led by women.

There’s more to a hackathon than just teaching how to code – although some who arrive not knowing how to code learn by Sunday.

Of course, there’s mentoring.

“It was great to see established women in tech be mentors for younger women and girls. Creating those relationships is important for any group trying to gain a foothold in an industry,” says Hill.

Networking, meeting new people and learning new things are also components. These are opportunities to gain insight into the application development industry.

“It’s not hard to be an application developer, and there are many roles in the industry like business, design and coding,” Hill tells PINK.

Bonus PINK Link: More from a STEM fielder: Suzy Cody, Aerodynamics Engineer.

Do you know how to code?

By Sarah Grace Alexander

“Women shouldn’t be afraid to put themselves forward.” Sarah Wood