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The app (and women) that launched a thousand female programmers
"Hey, why don't we build an app?" was the question that changed the life of Michie Ang, and years later, the lives of many aspiring female programmers.
It was 2011 and apps weren't very popular yet. The latest iPhone model was the iPhone 3G. Michie, who was a registered nurse, did not know the first thing about programming, much less creating an app. There were no resources available in the Philippines that would teach her either.
Michie's friend, who made the suggestion, was in Singapore at the time, so Michie threw caution to the wind and flew there to meet here. They researched and studied in the libraries until they got the hang of programming. The two then created the Science Q&A app, which took off in the United States.
But it was the knowledge that opened many doors for Michie.
"Na-realize ko ang laking potential nito. You can reach so many people. Ang dami mong pwede magawa... 'dun ko nahiligan 'yung programming," Michie told GMA News Online.
Michie is the now proud co-founder of Women Who Code Manila, a year-old non-profit organization that teaches and encourages women to code and climb the ladder in the tech industry. The group is composed of tech newbies, career shifters, and advanced programmers who want to hone their skills.
It belongs to the Women Who Code network, a worldwide organization that has more than a hundred thousand members in 20 countries and around 80 cities. Michie discovered the group when she was in an Apple conference in the US.
In the conferences she attended abroad, Michie noticed the children and teenagers who have already mastered creating apps.
"Last year, the youngest was 10 [years old]. And they're building a lot of apps na. And if you think about it, why is it in the Philippines we don't have it yet?" she wondered.
She then made the decision to apply all that she learned back home to the Philippines and break ground in making a welcoming and inclusive tech community that anyone can turn to.
Breaking the stereotype
"It's just a misconception, na ang lalaki, they use the cars and the computers," Michie said.
It might be a misconception, but it's one that is widely spread.
Michie said that many of their members have experienced discrimination and gender stereotyping simply because they are some of the admittedly few women in the tech industry.
Women Who Code co-director Joy Paas herself has experienced being overlooked and belittled in tech conferences, despite the fact that she was a resource speaker in some of them.
"There was one time, I was seated on this table and then ako lang yung babae 'dun sa table. There's this guy speaking to me like, akala niya ata ay plus one ako ng isang sa mga speakers doon. I was participating in the technical discussion and then parang he was just cutting me off. Akala niya 'di ako tech person," she recounted.
"Siguro yung expectations lang din ng mga tao...siguro yung conferences na napuntahan niya sanay siya na yung speakers mga lalaki," she added.
Another story from their members that stuck to Michie and Joy was one about hiring in tech-related jobs.
Michie said that she was turned down because they don't hire women for IT, only sales.
"When she was applying for a programming job, ang sabi sa kanya we don't hire women for IT related jobs but we hire women for sales. So parang merong stereotyping. Baka yung mga recruiter at the time, was thinking mas magaling yung mga lalaki sa programming that's why they only hire guys, which is wala namang proof," Michie said.
"We're trying to break the stereotyping," she added
Women Who Code is formed by volunteers and women who want to learn coding and the skills needed to succeed in the tech industry. They have limited funding and rely on sponsors for venues for their study groups and events.
The going tends to get tough but it's all worth it, because at the end of the day, the group gets to help women and give them a community they deserve.
"We have those kinds of stories, when you go to our events and you listen why they're there, you realize that we have to change all of this," Michie said.
Equality is the dream
The group is pushing 1,500 members and counting. This year, they will start looking into building communities in other regions and cities in the Philippines, and show Filipino women what they can do with programming.
While they are presently giving women a leg up to the male-dominated industry, and giving them a community that is unintimidating and welcoming, Michie said that they do not discriminate.
"We don't discriminate. We have guys who are leaders, we have guys attending our events. We don't want to create a division women's group and a men's group. We want to make it diverse," she said.
Someday, Michie would like to remove the word "women" from Women Who Code.
Someday, Michie hopes that there would be enough women as members, leaders, and founders in the tech industry, that the division becomes nonexistent.
"We hope in the future, you don't have to think of the women who code, kasi pantay na. Everything is equal. That's the dream," she said. — LA, GMA News
