Four key areas
The Initiative focuses on four key areas:
- Developing and improving learning resources
- Conducting and learning from research
- Highlighting female role models
- Developing a guide of best practices
Our ‘Empowering the Future’ guide
Anyone can download and print our ‘Empowering the Future’ guide for free! This is our most comprehensive guide yet of practical approaches that Dojos have tested and have been found to engage and sustain girls.
Topics covered in the guide include:
- improving the Dojo environment and layout
- language and images used to describe your Dojo
- content considerations and resources
- ways to increase role models in your Dojo
It is available in English, Spanish and Italian.
Role models
Research shows the number of girls interested in STEM increases dramatically when they have role models (41%) compared to those who do not (26%). Girls with role models are 15% more likely to be able to imagine themselves working in STEM and are also more passionate about STEM subjects.
Dojos benefit from having volunteer mentors with different skills and backgrounds who provide support and encouragement to CoderDojo youth. By volunteering a couple of hours of your time each month, women can have a real impact by increasing the number of girls learning to create apps, websites, games, and hardware projects through CoderDojo.
Spread the word
Why not highlight how your Dojo is supporting girls by sharing your own message or use the example below on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram?
We’re pledging to increase the proportion of girls in our Dojo as part of the #CoderDojoGirls Initiative https://coderdojo.com/girlsinitiative/ #RealRoleModels
We have also released a series of videos which cover key areas discussed in the guide.
Additionally, we would like to say a massive thank you to all the community members that contributed to this guide by sharing their insights with us. Your input has helped us to make the guide as comprehensive and beneficial as possible for others. Thank you!
Learn more
You can read more about the Raspberry Pi Foundation's gender balance in computing research. You can also share insights or ask questions about the Initiative or guide on our CoderDojo Global Slack channel.