Google is investing $50 million into encouraging girls and women to code or get involved in the technology industry with a program called Made with Code.
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The initiative was launched last week at an event hosted by Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project), who promoted Google's view that the male-dominated technology field is prohibitive to women and encouraged girls to get involved in coding.
Google launched a Made with Code website, which features tutorials and instructions aimed at girls in middle school and high school. CNET, which attended the event, quoted Kaling lamenting her own lack of technical prowess.
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"People my age have a million ideas for apps," she said. "But we have no idea how to build them. Last week in the movies, I didn't even know how to turn off the flashlight on my phone."
Women are statistically under-represented in the field, with just 20 percent of software developers being females according to the US Labor Department. Perhaps spurring the creation of such an initiative, Google revealed last month that only 17 percent of its own tech workers were women.
Kaling cited her own experiences succeeding in Hollywood, which can be restrictive to women--especially those trying to headline a show or movie. Girls can make a similar impact in the tech industry, she says, and even a background in or understanding of coding can help you in a variety of ways when entering the modern work force.
Head over to the link above to check out the site, and share it with anyone who fits the target audience. It offers profiles of female artists and engineers who have succeeded in their fields using their knowledge of coding, and includes Google's free code-teaching software Blockly.
