novembre 29, 2024
2024 marks the 10-year anniversary of Tech Girl, Valtech’s flagship program to inspire the next generation of women in tech. Designed to spark girls’ interest in technology and build their programming skills, the program invites participants to our offices where they learn to code in Scratch and HTML.
Why did we create Tech Girl?
While women’s overall representation has increased from 26.7% in tech-related jobs in 2021 to 32% in 2023 , there is still a significant way to go.
Shockingly, representation remains lower than in 1984, when it stood at 34%. At a leadership level, gender parity is far from being achieved, with women representing just 28% of tech leaders.
Retention is also an issue; research shows 50% of women in tech roles leave them by the age of 35. Notably, 32% of women in technical and engineering roles are often the only woman in the room at work. This means we are constantly losing a significant portion of the small number of women who have chosen tech as a career.
When it comes to funding, the story isn’t much better. In 2022, all-women startup teams received an all-time low of venture capital funding: 1.9% or $4.5 billion out of $238.3 billion.
As a company working across 20-plus countries, we have a responsibility to help change this story.
What has Tech Girl achieved over the years?
In 2014, we first launched Tech Girl in Stockholm, bringing together girls to inspire them to be future Valtechies. In the coming years, we expanded across Europe to the UK, France and Denmark. In 2018, we held our first event in North America, and in 2019 we launched events in LATAM and India.
In 2020, we all felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we transitioned our in-person sessions to an online format to ensure girls didn’t miss out. By 2023, we ran events in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Mexico, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, Ukraine and the US.
In the 10 years since we launched the program, we have reached more than1,200 girls globally, inspiring them to be curious and open to a career in tech.
Celebrating the 10-year mark
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Tech Girl, we hosted a very special event in Stockholm. In front of an audience of more than 50 girls from local schools, we revisited the program’s achievements and shared success stories from fellow Valtech women.
Sheree Atcheson, Group SVP of Diversity and Inclusion, presented an overview of how the program has evolved over the past decade, sharing an inspiring vision for the future of Tech Girl.
Alongside Sheree, we welcomed three inspiring women from Valtech on stage — Sophia Skinbjerg Eyeles (Global Head of MarTech), Petra Olsson (FE Developer) and Clarissa Hedenqvist (FE Developer). They talked about their journeys in tech and what they love most about their work.
They also shared some hands-on advice to help the future generation of tech girls find their way in the world of programming, with the intention to inspire and create access to future careers in IT.
It's safe to say it was inspirational for both sides!
See how our presenters experienced the event:
Sheree Atcheson
Group SVP of Diversity and Inclusion
Tech Girl is such a key event for us at Valtech and to reach a 10-year milestone is one of our proudest achievements. Marking the occasion with such an inspirational session full of real-life experiences was incredible. I hope to see some of the girls from that day as future women in tech!
Sophia Skinbjerg Eyeles
Global Head of MarTech
I was inspired by both the number of girls in the room and their active participation; the future for women in tech looks to be full of bright minds!
Petra Olsson
Front-End Developer
I would describe the day as exciting. You could really feel all the excitement from the girls, and I feel like a lot of them left feeling very inspired and happy.
Clarissa Hedenqvist
Front-End Developer
The day for me can be described as uplifting! Very exciting to see so many young girls considering a career in tech, and super cool to get the opportunity to meet and talk to them directly
What’s next for Tech Girl?
Valtech will be continuing Tech Girl throughout 2025, supporting girls where the program is already established while expanding our reach into new locations. We couldn’t be more excited to meet and welcome in the Tech Girl classes of 2025, continuing our work to improve access and inclusion in tech.