Google Appeals To Right, Left Brain With $50 Million To Convince Girls To Code

Miral Kotb has been dancing since she could walk because it gives her personal expression. Kotb also likes to write code for many of the same reasons. She combined her creative side with analytical talents to create a theatrical performance of lights -- Illuminate -- based on dance and code. But she's in the minority. Now Google wants to spend $50 million to get more females involved. The ad-tech industry will need the extra help as programmatic ad-buying increases and more devices connect to the Internet. Actions taken by the technology industry contribute to the deficit.

Kotb's love for code makes her part of a minority. Google, however, has a new plan to change that by getting more females interested in technology and coding. The company kicked off an event Thursday, spending $50 million to bring more girls into online coding. The Made with Code initiative aims to change the perception that coding is a male's job. Every person should learn how to code. Even I know how to code a few things. The ad-tech industry will need the extra help as programmatic ad buying increases and more devices connect to the Internet.

By 2020, estimates there will be more than 1.4 million computing jobs and only 400,000 computer science students. Less than 2.4% of college students graduate with a computer science degree, and the numbers have dropped in the past decade. While 57% of the bachelor's degrees are earned by women, only 12% of computer science degrees are awarded to women.

I would be remiss if I didn't remind tech titans like Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Sheryl Sandberg, Bill Gates, and others who are spearheading projects similar to Made with Code that encourage women to participate in computer science the technology industry in the United States created this deficiency by outsourcing too many coding jobs overseas. Most of the countries are dominated by male coders. Now companies like Google want to invest millions to appeal to the minority: women in computer science -- not just in the U.S., but internationally.

Educational programs in the U.S. have also dropped the ball when it comes to encouraging girls to seek a computer science degree or profession. Google released a study Thursday on the motivations of women who go into computer science professions, what keeps them away and how society can work to reverse that trend. The study surveyed 1,600 men and women in the U.S., and found that women and girls are half as likely compared with men and boys to go into computer science fields. Many are not taught what studying computer science means.

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