What Are the Most Common Programming Languages Amongst Women Developers?
Written by Ashley Lipman
While the gender gap in programming usually leads to nothing but disappointment, there is some good news. While there are still a disproportionate number of women stuck in junior positions compared to men, women are making big strides. Today, women make up more than half of computer science graduates and junior developers who are entering the workforce. That’s a huge improvement worth celebrating.
While in the past, women were more likely to join development from another major or area of interest, it’s good to see more women choosing to study computer science. It’s safe to say that the gender gap is slowly shrinking, but how does this affect the way women code?
HackerRank recently released a comprehensive study for women in tech for 2019, and its results show there are some clear differences in the languages women programmers choose over men. What does this say about the future of women in tech? Let’s find out.
The Most Common Programming Languages
In a survey of over 12,000 women programmers in the youngest generation (Gen Z), HackerRank discovered that these women know 2 of the 3 languages employers want. What languages do they know? They’re more likely to know Java and Python than they are to have skill with JavaScript.
These aren’t that different from the proficiencies of Gen Z men, but more Gen Z women know Java (72%) than men (66%) while more Gen Z men know Python (63%) than women (59%).
Another major language topping the list for women is C and C++. Why’s that? These are some of the most common languages taught to students. So as more women choose to formally study computer science, more women are also exposed to C and C++ as an introduction to coding.
What Do These Languages Tell Us?
So what can we learn from this distribution of languages amongst women programmers? It all comes down to where women are in their careers. As a programmer gains experience and skill, he or she will move to more specific parts of the tech stack. They might start to gravitate towards newer languages like Kotlin and Swift. However, these aren’t what general junior positions are looking for, and that’s where the difference comes in.
Women are much more likely to end up in a junior position than men, even in the long run. The latter seems to be much shorter for women looking to work their way up the tech stack, so that’s why they’re less likely to learn these highly-specific and new languages. Naturally, they focus on the most in-demand languages to increase their chances of finding a job.
While more and more women continue to grow their skills whether it’s in a traditional education setting or on different forums, it seems they’re still struggling to achieve higher positions in their chosen industry. We’ll need to see a change on the horizon to widen this distribution of programming languages as well as women achievement.
The Future of Women’s Programming Preferences
The HackerRank survey indicated that women expect the tech world to be shifting in key ways moving forward. First, they think the global tech hub is going to change within the next few years from Silicon Valley to somewhere new. Whether it’s Seattle or Bengaluru, women are looking beyond Silicon Valley for their future.
Much of this distrust of Silicon Valley goes beyond the high cost of living. It’s simply become clear that companies both big and small have a way to go to create a diverse, productive work environment where women can succeed as easily as men.
It will be up to hiring managers to accelerate this change. The playing field is far from equal. Whether there needs to be clearer pathways to promotion and leadership or more inclusive hiring policies, this next generation needs to be welcomed into the tech field with open arms. Then, we’re more likely to see a drastic shift in the preferred programming languages by both men and women. This will be a change for the better.