Vogue Australia is out to make a difference - and not in the style or beauty stakes. After noticing a lack of Australian women entering jobs in technology, the magazine believes this is one area where it can incite change.
“There are fundamental and systematic failures in our school curriculum, our universities and workplaces that are discouraging women from entering this field, yet we are told there will be 100,000 jobs created in Australia over the next five years in this sector. At the rate we are going, very few women will be able to fill them," says Vogue editor Edwina McCann.
"In the US, 'girls who code' is a cool movement – and even a hashtag – led by model Karlie Kloss… This fashionable movement is helping combat the idea that technology is a masculine industry only of interest to boys who like gaming. It’s also helping to break down the stereotype that STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) are preferred by men, while women favour humanities and the arts.
“It’s not just coding that we are addressing but also the fact that every future career will be touched by technology. If women lack an understanding of the language of technology, or fail to have a basic knowledge of coding and what it takes to build a digital product, or grasp the importance of digital marketing and social media, they will be disadvantaged in all careers in years to come.”
To help make careers in technology more fashionable, and encourage women to embrace coding, Vogue is hosting a two-day seminar - Vogue Codes - launching October 14 at Westpac in Sydney's Barangaroo. The two-day event will see 15 speakers discuss topics related to technology in the workplace.
