Documentary sheds light on lack of female representation in tech sector

While jobs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics are in high demand, and generally pay good salaries, women and people of colour remain underrepresented in those fields. 

In her film CODE: Debugging the Gender Gap director Robin Hauser Reynolds explores why women and people of colour continue to make up only a small portion of the skilled workforce in the American tech sector.

CODE has screened in 17 countries – including South Korea, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Iran –  since its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival last April. On Saturday, April 30, Ladies Learning Code, a national organization created to increase female participation in computer science, will screen the movie at Cambrian College's Open Studio, located at 93 Cedar Street. 

The screening is free, although donations are encouraged, and it starts at 6 p.m.

Hauser Reynolds told Sudbury.com she was inspired, in part, to tackle the issue of female representation in computer science, after her daughter dropped her computer science major in university. 

“She was just one of two women,” Hauser Reynolds said. “She really got the sense she didn't belong in that space.”

While her daughter was in the top third of her class, she had the perception she was not doing well, and started not to enjoy the program. 

Hauser Reynolds' producing partner, Staci Hartman, has a daughter who did pursue a career in computer science, and worked for Snapchat before it became one of the most popular messaging applications in the world. 

Through her daughter Hartman had gotten a picture of the corporate culture of the American tech sector.

“Probably the biggest culprit is the stereotype of a programmer,” said Hauser Reynolds. “As long as girls and people of colour believe that you have to be an anti-social white or Asian male nerd, that's not very appealing to them.”

Women represent only 18 per cent of the American workforce in the technology sector, and most other countries, including Canada, don't fare much better. 
By 2020 there will be one million unfilled software engineering positions in the United States, and half the population is not well represented in the sector, said Hauser Reynolds.

While some women have managed to rise through the ranks of the technology sector and become role models for young women entering the field – including Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg – their numbers remains small. 

But Hauser Reynolds said she remains optimistic the situation can improve, especially when one considers the financial implications of not encouraging more women to enter the tech sector. 

“Teams with women are proven to have better return on investment, to be risk-averse,” she said.

And companies with little to no representation from women, or people of colour, are more likely to tackle a more narrow set of problems.

A team made up of well-to-do men may be less interested in developing an app to find clean drinking water or help someone secure affordable housing, for example. 

Hauser Reynolds said she has been pleased with the positive reaction her film has gotten so far, and added she hopes it can further the conversation around expanding diversity in the tech sector.