Glass: The Lion For Change > Glass Lion

GOOGLE MADE WITH CODE

RED & CO., Portland / GOOGLE / 2015

Awards:

Shortlisted Cannes Lions
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Case Film

Overview

Credits

Overview

BriefExplanation

We’re asked to solve problems all the time.

But when the problem is a national, cultural, social and gendered issue for which no one yet has a solution, it’s on another order of magnitude.

Google asked us to inspire a million girls code.

“Things You Love Are Made with Code”connects code to girls’ interests and gives them a reason to get excited about Computer Science.

Twelve inspiring documentaries were shot featuring role models doing incredible things with code.

Parents and educators were able to see the power of code via an anthem film as well as find more coding organizations through a first-time events directory.

We also created a curriculum of coding projects designed to teach girls the fundamentals. Projects ranged in skill level and covered concepts like variables, values and if-then statements.

Google’s existing visual programming language called Blockly was redesigned and made to work on all devices for the first time. A framework was also built to allow for more complex projects involving 3D printing a bracelet, animating a Yeti and creating a musical beat.

In total, 13 projects were created and the design, functionality and software continues to be used by Google and their partners.

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Effectiveness

All over the U.S. and beyond teachers are reporting that girls are showing up to coding classes and workshops and have begun using madewithcode.com as a learning tool. University Computer Science departments are also using the campaign as a recruiting tool to show High School students the opportunities coding can create.

Today, madewithcode.com has minted over 5 million new girl coders.

Made with Code mentor videos have been viewed over 1.3 million times.

Hundreds of thousands of 3D printed bracelets (one of the projects) are being proudly worn and madewithcode.com is becoming the hub for girl coders as it adds more projects, connects more organizations and inspires the next generation of girls to code.

EntrySummary

Pop culture depicts coding as all about sitting in a dark room, in front of a small screen, processing cascades of numbers. The problem with this perception is that it’s keeping too many girls from coding. They see coding as abstract, anti-social and boring.

What makes this perception even more problematic is that technology is becoming the new literacy and is shaping modern culture. And right now, one gender is doing almost all of the shaping.

In fact, only 0.4% of high school seniors plan to major in Computer Science. Out of 100 girls, that's not even one whole girl.

After looking at Google’s research we realized that encouragement from peers and career perception are key indicators to whether or not young women decide to pursue Computer Science.

It’s for this reason that we set out to find role models who could show girls that coding can help them build a great new app, design the next trend in wearable fashion or even build a robot that can help nurses save lives.

From making Pixar films to working with UNICEF these role model stories were able to change the perception girls have about coding and show them how to create and share their ideas in bigger and brighter ways.

Strategy

Technology rules the world. We all know that.

And for lots of reasons, guys seem to rule the technology that rules the world. (We all know that, too.)

Made with Code was created because even though more aspects in our lives are powered by technology, women aren’t represented in the companies, labs, creative arts, design and boardrooms that make technology happen.

We started by doing a lot of listening and synthesizing to find out first why girls weren’t coding, what barriers were keeping them from trying, which obstacles would be best to address, who we would recruit to the cause, and how to best engage our audience. Only when we had really crunched all the societal, academic, and anecdotal data could we start thinking about how to build a campaign around girls and coding that would actually make a difference.

It became apparent that in order to succeed, we needed to help girls see the larger potential and outcome of coding. We realized that coding is more interesting to girls when they view it as a creative act—enabling them to create whatever it is they want to see in the world.

If girls are inspired to see that coding can make the world more beautiful, more safe, more innovative and more healthy then they will begin to contribute their essential voices.

Our message to the next generation of girls was simple: Coding isn’t separate from the things you’re already passionate about. In fact, coding can actually make the things you’re passionate about more creative, more beautiful and more powerful.

Today, less than 1% of girls are majoring in Computer Science. Tomorrow, that number goes up.

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