Best Coding Bootcamps for Women Coders

A career in coding is a great choice for women as the demand for tech jobs is growing. Jobs in the computer science field offer high salaries for the right skills and training. Different fields like cloud computing, big data, and information security are all popular. If you want a career in tech, take a look at the best coding bootcamps for women below.

Women in Tech in 2021

The tech industry is taking strides to become more inclusive and better support women in the industry. Women’s representation has certainly improved over the last few decades, but there is still more work to do. Many gaps persist in the roles, expectations, and benefits for women in tech.

The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) reports that women make up only a quarter of computer science roles, even though they take up around half of the workforce as a whole. With more reports of harassment and discrimination across workspaces, the tech industry will have to be introspective. 

Work needs to be done to create a culture that promotes women and secures their place in the industry. The more we are aware and acknowledge the value women can bring, the more it can be an inclusive environment. Once more women enter tech jobs, the tech industry will recognize how valuable they can be.

Are Women Underrepresented in Tech?

Yes, women are still underrepresented in tech. More women are pursuing their interests in tech fields, but there is still a large gap. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), only 19 percent of software developers are women. This is fairly low, considering that in other fields, women make up a much larger percentage of the workforce. 

For example, 89 percent of registered nurses in the US are women, and 81 percent of elementary and middle school teachers are women, according to the BLS. This shows much variance in women working in tech and other fields.

At Google in 2020, around 32 percent of new hires were women. The major barrier is breaking in and getting entry-level positions. Women of color face this challenge even more, and just over four percent of the women hired at Google in 2020 were Black and Latinx.

Most Influential Women in Tech

There’s still great hope for women in tech with influential names of women in many major organizations. YouTube, Oracle, and Microsoft have women in prominent roles. We have listed some of the most influential women below to provide successful people to look up to for a career in tech.

• Noushin Shabab, Senior Security Researcher at Kaspersky
• Susan Wojcicki, CEO at YouTube
• Gwynne Shotwell, COO at SpaceX
• Safra Catz, CEO at Oracle
• Amy Hood, CFO at Microsoft

Why Join a Coding Bootcamp?

You should join a coding bootcamp because they offer programs with a flexible pace and a focused learning curriculum to help you learn new skills. Attending a coding bootcamp also allows you to learn from experts in the field and share experiences with other coders like yourself. You become part of a community that will also benefit you in the future.

Most bootcamps now offer scholarships to help women pay bootcamp tuition. Some bootcamps are only for women and aim to provide a safe environment for learners to be confident as they learn new skills. 

Bootcamps offer programs that are online, in-person, full-time, or part-time. They have multiple options to support you financially in your journey to learn to code. Joining a coding bootcamp can be your first but most crucial step in your tech career path.

Coding Bootcamp Job Placement Rate

The job placement rate for coding bootcamps is quite promising, with between 70 and 99 percent of learners finding programming jobs within six months. Joining a bootcamp will equip you with the skills to be a programmer and find employment in tech.

For example, Hackbright Academy is a popular name among coding schools for women and has prepared many female coders for the software development industry. About 71 percent of its graduates find full-time and in-field jobs after completing the program, and 77 percent of its alumni find jobs as software engineers after learning about full stack web applications.

Thinkful has an employment rate of 91 percent for graduates of its engineering immersive. Data analytics students had an employment rate of 85 percent after the flexible course, and 84 percent of students in the engineering flex course got jobs after graduation. These are promising numbers and show that coding bootcamps are worth it.

Top Free Coding Bootcamps for Women

Many bootcamps offer free resources to get coding skills. They want to promote more tech opportunities, and many direct their efforts towards women and other underrepresented groups. The following are some of the best free coding bootcamps you can explore in 2021.

Ada Developers Academy

Ada Developers Academy offers a free program in full stack web development to women and gender-expansive adults. The bootcamp has strong values regarding equal opportunities, anti-racism, and inclusivity in the workplace. It focuses on student-centered learning. 

Students complete the Ada Build program that covers computing fundamentals and the Ada PreCourse before classes start. The mandatory five-month internship gives you the hands-on experience you need to become an excellent junior software developer.

App Academy Open

App Academy Open is the free online platform from App Academy. You can learn coding skills that will get you a high-paying job like a software engineer. The free programs help students learn full stack development. The course material covers 1,500 hours of study curriculum and is available for free in a self-paced format.

Freecodecamp

This is a nonprofit community with the mission of helping students earn to code for free. There are thousands of videos, articles, and interactive coding lessons. You’ll learn to code by completing coding challenges and building projects. You’ll also earn verified certifications along the way. They also have thousands of freeCodeCamp study groups around the world.

Girls Who Code

Girls Who Code offers two programs for young girls. The Summer Immersion is a two-week virtual program for 10th to 12th-grade girls. College Loops is a program for female college students. The course covers content for complete beginners to advanced level students, and both courses are completely free. 

Skillcrush

Skillcrush is an online coding bootcamp with a long-term plan for anti-racism and gender diversity. It supports all women and non-binary people, BIPOC, career changers, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people with disabilities. Skillcrush offers a free coding camp that doesn’t require any previous technical background or advanced degree. 

Best Coding Bootcamps for Aspiring Women Coders

Many aspiring female coders benefit from good bootcamps. The following are some of the best coding bootcamps for women. Some of these are only open to women, while others offer specific scholarships and benefits to women who enroll. Take a look below to learn more about these top bootcamps.

Bridge

A coding bootcamp for women, Bridge has a program that runs over 11 weeks. It aims to enrich the tech learning experience for women, non-binary, and agender individuals and lead them to successful tech careers. It believes in an inclusive environment regardless of any gender.

At Bridge, there are two development programs in front end development and backend development. There is also a product design program. All the programs are free with no cost whatsoever, and they are offered live online in different cohorts. 

codeHive by AkiraChix

AkiraChix has a program called codeHive for young women in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. It gives technical training and hands-on experience to women between 18 and 24 years of age. At the end of the program, students present prototype solutions to demonstrate their skills.

Following the training, students get mentorship from technology and business experts in East Africa. The learning is also not limited to technical foundations, and women also get soft skills in communication and leadership. A great offering of the program is that it gives you six months to set up an enterprise with your innovative idea.

Flatiron School

Flatiron School wants to help women launch tech careers and find the best jobs with the right skills and tools. Its efforts have resulted in raising one million dollars for coding scholarships for women. Flatiron School strives to give all women the opportunities to learn and grow in the tech field.

This bootcamp believes in supporting education for women by providing scholarships and support initiatives. Scholarships are available to those who self-identify as a woman, are part of an underrepresented minority, have a disability, are a member of the LGBTQ+ community, or have a low income. 

General Assembly

General Assembly offers an immersive software engineering and data science course. Women are eligible for great scholarships from General Assembly like Break the Glass. This school wants to bring women forward in the tech community and support the career goals of underrepresented communities. 

According to its outcomes report, 91 percent of the immersive graduates found jobs within 180 days of graduation in 2019. Graduates of General Assembly find full-time jobs in tech thanks to the school’s 19,000 hiring partners. Students are taught by expert instructors and also get personalized career coaching from the huge networking community. 

Grace Hopper Program

Grace Hopper Program is a software engineering bootcamp tailored to women and gender-expansive students. It has a program for aspiring software developers as well as a preparatory course. It also has scholarships with other partners supporting gender diversity, so you can attend at a lower cost.

The software engineering program is an immersive course that is divided into two parts. The first four weeks are completed remotely in an online course. The rest of the 13 weeks are done on campus in New York City. The ultimate goal is to provide quality education to future software engineers and fill the gap in tech with capable women.

Hackbright Academy

Hackbright Academy wants to give gender-diverse people and women with divergent backgrounds the power and skills to build a career in the tech industry. It offers an environment for women that allows them to master the skills for a new career in tech. There are partial scholarships to not only one but two learners for every cohort.

In the software engineering bootcamp, you will learn the fundamentals of software and modern and in-demand web development skills. Hackbright Academy also has a Python basics program. You can explore the basics of the Python programming language with a six-course online program prepared by the school’s talented instructors. 

Mother Coders

Mother Coders is a special tech bootcamp for mothers. It provides learning opportunities for mothers that are in tech or want to be. This bootcamp helps women to get back on their career path after starting a family. It is located in San Francisco and New York.

The bootcamp is special because it offers in-house childcare. It supports learners to follow their passions and make moves to advance their careers. The facilities accommodate children of different age groups, so it really is a great program for everyone.

TechLadies Bootcamp

TechLadies is a bootcamp for women in Asia who want to become professional programmers. It gives women the tools to grow their skills and help their job search. Learners from this bootcamp also get help applying for jobs with well-written resumes and surpass in tech interviews.

The bootcamp offers a part-time program that lasts over 15 weeks. Before the bootcamp, potential students must do a technical task to give instructors an idea of their technical skills. During the program, you get hands-on learning experience and meet potential employers. The program has lectures, coding sessions, and workshops.

Thinkful

Thinkful is an organization that serves all students but provides coding bootcamp scholarships for women to encourage them to learn to code. It offers a concession of $600 and $1,200 off of tuition costs for flexible and full-time web development bootcamps. This is possible due to its partnerships with other organizations to encourage women’s empowerment by learning.

Thinkful offers courses in many different tech subjects, including data analytics, tech project management, and web design. It is also a great choice if you want to enter one of the best digital marketing careers. No matter what you want to learn, Thinkful is a great choice.

23 Code Street

23 Code Street is another bootcamp that aims to diversify the coding industry and reduce the gender gap. It offers coding classes to those who identify as female or non-binary. This bootcamp is located in the UK and India, where it has partnered with NGOs to empower women and provide digital skills to make successful careers.

The web development course gives foundational education to beginners to create a strong base of web development knowledge. Students learn about HTML, CSS3, JavaScript, GitHub, and jQuery. If you’re in the UK or India, you should look into this bootcamp.

Should I Attend a Coding Bootcamp?

Yes, attending a coding bootcamp will ensure you’re confident in your tech skills and ready to enter the tech sector. Women can overcome the challenges in the tech industry by learning crucial skills through coding bootcamps. 

Bootcamps offer high-quality programs to cultivate your strengths and grow in a diverse community. Beyond teaching basic programming, they also expose you to real projects. With hands-on experience, you already know your strengths and can show them in job applications.

Coding bootcamps make it easier for you to break into the industry as a junior coder. By gaining experience and mentorship, you can reach a senior position and earn above the average salary. It is an excellent first step for a long and successful career.