One day, i was speaking with a group of friends, the topic of discussion was reasons why females dont want to code. Bearing in mind that the very first programmer was female and also that my friends are very experienced developers and have been to many places with software. The initial reasons i grasped were that, girls feel coding is just stress and that its not worth it, another one was like, girls prefer to do girly things and to code feels masculine, these are the most funny replies i took note of though.
But the reason that captured my intrest the most and which i feel make sense the most are as follows

1. Lack of like minds. One was like, female programmers most times want to code and do other stuff, but the time to code always has to be devine and special, you only code and thats it, they dont get programmers who want to code and at the same time do other stuff as like minds, they are very rare, so they dont get people to associate with and interact in that specific niche.

2. Not working on personal projects. One gave a reason that he has never fully had to work with a female on personal projects before, that even some that code dont get time to do things that are completely personal, types that you would want the world to see sometime. And facts have proven that personal projects make one a much better programmer.

3. Stereotype. On seeing a female with high heels and lipstick posing to be a developer, one said that he rarely ever thinks that she would have the required skill to perform in thier company. Except maybe those that dont dress like females from the onset. And he also said that not only him, most people think so too and prefer hiring a male in suit than a female in heels as a coder

4. Social status. The only female amongst us(shes a wonderful and exceptional coder) said that coding isnt attractive and guys most times prefer to go for girls in other profession than girls who code. Some are scared of what might happen whilst dating a girl, imagine dating a girl and when you come over to talk and cuddle and she starts to talk about a bug she had on her javascript code or a module she discovered in python.... preety wierd.

Those were the points i took note of, the conversation was preety long and intense but to end with, i think the factor of Nigeria also creates a big rift in allowing a girl to code, to say the truth, an average Nigerian lady thinks of a man she will marry and how rich he will be instead of thinking to be self sufficient and independent with her self. The world of the internet which we are in presently presents a lot of oppurtunities to anybody, male or female to make what he or she likes with it. I hope to see more females in the Nigerian programming industry.

A concerned Nigerian.

About number 4. Dating a female programmer is fun sha. I will only breakup with her if she hits space multiple times instead of hitting tab

directonpc:
About number 4. Dating a female programmer is fun sha. I will only breakup with her if she hits space multiple times instead of hitting tab

hahaha, nice one

seun

I have qlways wanted to date a femlae programmer...we could even get married and giv birth to programs

stereotype probably your stats are from Nigeria in India and Malaysia lots of females who code

qoura123:
stereotype probably your stats are from Nigeria in India and Malaysia lots of females who code

yeah, am talking on nigeria, how many female coders dyu know here?

Well we have like 5 female devs and they all do Java EE and Apache camel and Spring, there are female developers just that you won't know because they don't fit that stereotype ,they code and are also very fashionable am not talking about all these Andela soft coders am talking Enterprise developers. Go to banks,fintechs and not just startups you will see them.

Interesting, guys how about we coming up with a program to sensitize and develop them so we can have more of them as we need them in the advancement of this great promising industry

TeejayMaya:
Interesting, guys how about we coming up with a program to sensitize and develop them so we can have more of them as we need them in the advancement of this great promising industry

(

TeejayMaya:
Interesting, guys how about we coming up with a program to sensitize and develop them so we can have more of them as we need them in the advancement of this great promising industry

. well, i ddnt just write this article, i am part of a charity organisation called django girls... its a non profit that teaches females to code with python usingusing its django web framework, i am one of the organisers at Ife, you can do same or evwn bwtter fr sensitization

Bamoha:
(. well, i ddnt just write this article, i am part of a charity organisation called django girls... its a non profit that teaches females to code with python usingusing its django web framework, i am one of the organisers at Ife, you can do same or evwn bwtter fr sensitization

I have come across this at radar.tech

Interesting topic. It'd actually rare to find girls that want to go into programming. It's quite time consuming and most people think that anything that has to do with tech is a male thing. I read Law and when I started to learn programming: I started with python though, I thought of telling one of my friends to join me so we can learn and be accountable to one another but I couldn't find anybody willing. Most are interested in marriage, make-up and all that. Still looking for though

I have met about five female developers here in Lagos, and work along side one of them at IdeaHub

talk2hb1 , pcguru1,
I feel you guys.

trixandra,
'To try' means nothing in this world. All that matters is consistency, persistence, grit. Which you obviously did not possess at the time.
You're simply not ready to code. If you were or are, you would have done it/continued to do it with or without an "accountability partner". You yourself are probably more concerned with those things you mentioned. I did <check attached jar files>when I first started. I cant read that code now without wondering at my level of messiness. But those first months of banging my head against a wall and wondering at my level of dumbness had to be done first and CONSISTENTLY.

To nairaland/programming, I am a learner o. My making this contribution is simply to make known some knowledge I currently possess.
A few points:

1. Coding is not for everyone. Coding is also not one of those professions ignorant people can cast gender bias on without sounding somewhat vapid. There are programmers. Some happen to be female, and some happen to be male. The best coder I know personally is male, but boy, have I met female programmers?(yes).

2. This post is an unnecessary propagation of lazy writing. What was your sample size in arriving at the conclusion that females("aka otherworldly creatures" "dont want to code"? How many people generally, have the capacity to put in the amount of grit required to be a decent programmer? What research did you and your colleagues make? What kind of outfits have you and you and colleagues worked at? Good male and female coders abound, but expecting them to carry it on their head like" see me! see me! I have breasts and I can actually use my head!", is simply never gonna happen.People who mean business just do their thing without making too much fuss.

3. I personally cringe everytime someone meets me and goes" OH! MY! GOD! A woman who can click enter?! ". Its annoying when people fetishize things that are really not to be fetishized. Because of this reason, for a long time I've been using a male alias on NL. Nobody likes to be a clown.

4. If you think youre all for female empowerment or whatever, giving someone opportunity ONLY because they are female is the worst thing you can possibly do(because an unqualified person will end up where a qualified person should be and mess up, reinforcing the bias that girls are inefficient). You should always use the best person for the job you can afford. Always. If that person happens to be female, then so be it.

If you think youre all for female empowerment or whatever, giving someone opportunity ONLY because they are female is the worst thing you can possibly do(because an unqualified person will end up where a qualified person should be and mess up, reinforcing the bias that girls are inefficient). You should always use the best person for the job you can afford. Always. If that person happens to be female, then so be it.

To be sincere i understand what you mean, however the reason why it is such is because it has been "established" noticed in quote meaning that's how it's perceived that programming is male centric, however am happy this is not true, I know that, you know that, because it's the best candidate selected for the job, however in order to encourage female developers, we need to take some female developers as entry levels to train them, why so ? you might ask, to encourage others to see them as role models and aspire to be like them. in some ways it feels like subtle sexism but it's a necessary one. a good developer is a good developer sex has nothing to do with, I met one badass female dev in mauritius she contributed to the Python library "Twisted" she's hardcore.

pcguru1:

If you think youre all for female empowerment or whatever, giving someone opportunity ONLY because they are female is the worst thing you can possibly do(because an unqualified person will end up where a qualified person should be and mess up, reinforcing the bias that girls are inefficient). You should always use the best person for the job you can afford. Always. If that person happens to be female, then so be it.

To be sincere i understand what you mean, however the reason why it is such is because it has been "established" noticed in quote meaning that's how it's perceived that programming is male centric, however am happy this is not true, I know that, you know that, because it's the best candidate selected for the job, however in order to encourage female developers, we need to take some female developers as entry levels to train them, why so ? you might ask, to encourage others to see them as role models and aspire to be like them. in some ways it feels like subtle sexism but it's a necessary one. a good developer is a good developer sex has nothing to do with, I met one badass female dev in mauritius she contributed to the Python library "Twisted" she's hardcore.

I feel you. Taking someone in at entry level to train them is quite common, and very encourageable. The scenario I would have an issue is is where you take someone in to handle some really important responsibility, solely/chiefly because they are from Aba, or are a man/woman.

alexisSr:
talk2hb1 , pcguru1,
I feel you guys.

trixandra,
'To try' means nothing in this world. All that matters is consistency, persistence, grit. Which you obviously did not possess at the time.
You're simply not ready to code. If you were or are, you would have done it/continued to do it with or without an "accountability partner". You yourself are probably more concerned with those things you mentioned. I did <check attached jar files>when I first started. I cant read that code now without wondering at my level of messiness. But those first months of banging my head against a wall and wondering at my level of dumbness had to be done first and CONSISTENTLY.

I don't think you understand what I meant by accountability. Programming is all about learning everyday single day. There are times when you need to talk to persons who have the same goals around you. Think of classmates studying together. I believe programming is more about interacting with people.
And for you to just conclude I am not ready to code...The reason why I don't like to mingle with senior female programmers.

trixandra:

I don't think you understand what I meant by accountability. Programming is all about learning everyday single day. There are times when you need to talk to persons who have the same goals around you. Think of classmates studying together. I believe programming is more about interacting with people.
And for you to just conclude I am not ready to code...The reason why I don't like to mingle with senior female programmers.

trixandra, I feel you too. Dont take me too seriously, I was just making a point. and loooool at "senior female programmers". Trust me, I no be madam o. I am a learner's learner.

Falling for alexisSr already <not because of the female programming sexism sha>.
I happen to have attended an event that aims at encouraging females to code. Guess what, the place was so full of men, and without the ladies showing interest how can they learn?

trixandra:

I don't think you understand what I meant by accountability. Programming is all about learning everyday single day. There are times when you need to talk to persons who have the same goals around you. Think of classmates studying together. I believe programming is more about interacting with people.
And for you to just conclude I am not ready to code...The reason why I don't like to mingle with senior female programmers.

but both you guys are you in CCHUB or in Lagos, if so i'd like to encourage you guys to join a hub so you can meet people (clients/startups) and get hands on projects, that was how i started, i was a learner but i got interested into programming when i discovered about Emulation and Video games. seriously CCHUB pushes alot of female centric programming programs. there's also the Django girls code camp on radar.techcabal.com

alexisSr:
talk2hb1 , pcguru1,
I feel you guys.

trixandra,
'To try' means nothing in this world. All that matters is consistency, persistence, grit. Which you obviously did not possess at the time.
You're simply not ready to code. If you were or are, you would have done it/continued to do it with or without an "accountability partner". You yourself are probably more concerned with those things you mentioned. I did <check attached jar files>when I first started. I cant read that code now without wondering at my level of messiness. But those first months of banging my head against a wall and wondering at my level of dumbness had to be done first and CONSISTENTLY.

To nairaland/programming, I am a learner o. My making this contribution is simply to make known some knowledge I currently possess.
A few points:

1. Coding is not for everyone. Coding is also not one of those professions ignorant people can cast gender bias on without sounding somewhat vapid. There are programmers. Some happen to be female, and some happen to be male. The best coder I know personally is male, but boy, have I met female programmers?(yes).

2. This post is an unnecessary propagation of lazy writing. What was your sample size in arriving at the conclusion that females("aka otherworldly creatures" "dont want to code"? How many people generally, have the capacity to put in the amount of grit required to be a decent programmer? What research did you and your colleagues make? What kind of outfits have you and you and colleagues worked at? Good male and female coders abound, but expecting them to carry it on their head like" see me! see me! I have breasts and I can actually use my head!", is simply never gonna happen.People who mean business just do their thing without making too much fuss.

3. I personally cringe everytime someone meets me and goes" OH! MY! GOD! A woman who can click enter?! ". Its annoying when people fetishize things that are really not to be fetishized. Because of this reason, for a long time I've been using a male alias on NL. Nobody likes to be a clown.

4. If you think youre all for female empowerment or whatever, giving someone opportunity ONLY because they are female is the worst thing you can possibly do(because an unqualified person will end up where a qualified person should be and mess up, reinforcing the bias that girls are inefficient). You should always use the best person for the job you can afford. Always. If that person happens to be female, then so be it.

its not empowerment, its sparking lut an intrest in it, its left for whoever to choose to get empowered or not. And thanks for your observation, i also stated that this was a discussion between random guys that code and not a research group

alexisSr i saw your pm

any problem

adasexy01:
alexisSr i saw your pm

any problem

huh? Probably a mistake. lol,

adasexy01:
alexisSr i saw your pm
any problem

hahahaha, this is hilarious

trixandra:
Interesting topic. It'd actually rare to find girls that want to go into programming. It's quite time consuming and most people think that anything that has to do with tech is a male thing. I read Law and when I started to learn programming: I started with python though, I thought of telling one of my friends to join me so we can learn and be accountable to one another but I couldn't find anybody willing. Most are interested in marriage, make-up and all that. Still looking for though

Please, am interested.

pcguru1:
Well we have like 5 female devs and they all do Java EE and Apache camel and Spring, there are female developers just that you won't know because they don't fit that stereotype ,they code and are also very fashionable am not talking about all these Andela soft coders am talking Enterprise developers. Go to banks,fintechs and not just startups you will see them.

Lol at the bolded! I thought I was the only one who see them that way. Even their guys are soft coders . They talk and act like robots, their whole life revolve around andela. I wonder if they breathe or eat or even shit in the toilet

Bamoha:
One day, i was speaking with a group of friends, the topic of discussion was reasons why females dont want to code. Bearing in mind that the very first programmer was female and also that my friends are very experienced developers and have been to many places with software. The initial reasons i grasped were that, girls feel coding is just stress and that its not worth it, another one was like, girls prefer to do girly things and to code feels masculine, these are the most funny replies i took note of though.
But the reason that captured my intrest the most and which i feel make sense the most are as follows

1. Lack of like minds. One was like, female programmers most times want to code and do other stuff, but the time to code always has to be devine and special, you only code and thats it, they dont get programmers who want to code and at the same time do other stuff as like minds, they are very rare, so they dont get people to associate with and interact in that specific niche.

2. Not working on personal projects. One gave a reason that he has never fully had to work with a female on personal projects before, that even some that code dont get time to do things that are completely personal, types that you would want the world to see sometime. And facts have proven that personal projects make one a much better programmer.

3. Stereotype. On seeing a female with high heels and lipstick posing to be a developer, one said that he rarely ever thinks that she would have the required skill to perform in thier company. Except maybe those that dont dress like females from the onset. And he also said that not only him, most people think so too and prefer hiring a male in suit than a female in heels as a coder

4. Social status. The only female amongst us(shes a wonderful and exceptional coder) said that coding isnt attractive and guys most times prefer to go for girls in other profession than girls who code. Some are scared of what might happen whilst dating a girl, imagine dating a girl and when you come over to talk and cuddle and she starts to talk about a bug she had on her javascript code or a module she discovered in python.... preety wierd.

Those were the points i took note of, the conversation was preety long and intense but to end with, i think the factor of Nigeria also creates a big rift in allowing a girl to code, to say the truth, an average Nigerian lady thinks of a man she will marry and how rich he will be instead of thinking to be self sufficient and independent with her self. The world of the internet which we are in presently presents a lot of oppurtunities to anybody, male or female to make what he or she likes with it. I hope to see more females in the Nigerian programming industry.

A concerned Nigerian.

Programming is more of thinking than writing codes. Women hate those brainstorming all night kinda jobs. They don't have the patience to handle the frustration that comes with writing codes and still not getting the required results. Unfortunately , I'll say programming is not a woman thing. Don't get me wrong , I'm not saying girls can't do codes , but I just happen never to have met girls who are up to that level of the requirements that the tech industry needs. Give them the real work and put them under the kind of pressure those guys from google, facebook (and even Nigerian companies) are put through, they'll just find one plugin like that and install for you.

It also boils down to interest too. An average Nigerian girl is only ambitious when they're in school and below 21. The moment they graduate their major focus will be to get married and we all know how everything ends there - its what most girls are doing so the others will easily follow suit. Only a few maintain that zeal and ambitious drive. And once you get married , you can never have that time to think and code. Its a near impossible feat.

seunoni34:


Programming is more of thinking than writing codes. Women hate those brainstorming all night kinda jobs. They don't have the patience to handle the frustration that comes with writing codes and still not getting the required results. Unfortunately , I'll say programming is not a woman thing. Don't get me wrong , I'm not saying girls can't do codes , but I just happen never to have met girls who are up to that level of the requirements that the tech industry needs. Give them the real work and put them under the kind of pressure those guys from google, facebook (and even Nigerian companies) are put through, they'll just find one plugin like that and install for you.

It also boils down to interest too. An average Nigerian girl is only ambitious when they're in school and below 21. The moment they graduate their major focus will be to get married and we all know how everything ends there - its what most girls are doing so the others will easily follow suit. Only a few maintain that zeal and ambitious drive. And once you get married , you can never have that time to think and code. Its a near impossible feat.

You are wrong both male and female fall under this. Family comes first to me, I can be sacked anytime.

The title says in Nigeria