14 initiatives supporting women who code

In the 1960s, the profession of "programmer" was an almost exclusively female occupation.

Then, in leaps and bounds, the trend reversed.

As the field became professionalized and was put in the spotlight as a key profession of the future, women were gradually pushed out of the world of computing.

In 2024, only 12% to 15% of software programming positions were held by women. Fortunately, there are initiatives, associations, support groups, and companies whose goal is to restore equality in our field, and the least we can do is offer them the visibility available to us.

Note that this list is not ordered, and it is certainly not exhaustive, so don't hesitate to send us other initiatives in the comments!

National initiatives

In this list you'll find French initiatives, but also sometimes international associations that have a strong presence in France.

DuchessFrance [Women in Tech]

Duchess is a hyper-active and welcoming community of women developers that is gaining strong momentum in France. There is great support from mentors and role models to encourage more and more women to give talks throughout the country.

On the site you can also find articles, events, etc...!

Link: Website

Ladies of code

Ladies of code is an international association but one that is particularly active in Paris. It's classified under "national" because the events are broadcast on YouTube and the association is organized around Slack!

Link: Website and Slack

Ada Tech School

As their site states, Ada Tech School is a feminist computer science school, accessible to everyone to learn how to create with code in an open and welcoming environment, with campuses in Paris, Nantes and Lyon.

Link: Website

Motiv'Her

The introduction to Motiv'Her on their page describes the initiative very well: "Have you always thought about becoming a web developer but don't dare to? Are you starting your journey as a developer and have doubts?! Are you job hunting and feeling discouraged?! Motiv'Her is the perfect boost for you!"

Motiv'Her is: a community, content and mentors to support those who feel the need for it!

Link: Website, LinkedIn and Instagram

Local initiatives

Whether in a department, a region, or sometimes a local branch of an international association based in a particular city!

Paris - PyLadies

Founded by Lucy Liu and Maria Telenczuk, the Paris branch of PyLadies follows the original concept: organizing mentoring and events around all Python technologies!

Link: Website

Rouen - Les Fées Marraines

Les Fées Marraines is a collective of professional women from Rouen Métropole who came together to create a solution to help guide young people—and girls in particular—toward digital careers.

Link: Website

Roubaix - HTM'Elles

HTM'Elles is an event designed to introduce people to development careers or to advance a professional project through testimonials, discoveries and meetings.

Link: Website

Auvergne Rhone-Alpes - LDigital

LDigital is an association that supports women undergoing career transitions toward digital professions and opportunities, and raises awareness among young people—from kindergarten to university—about these careers.

Link: Website

Paris / Lyon - Social Builder [Woman In Digital]

Social Builder is a tech training center for women who are job hunting or undergoing career transitions!

Link: https://socialbuilder.org/

Nice / Sophia-Antipolis - Women Hackers Action Tank 06

The collective aims to give visibility to women working in the fields of Digital and Technology. The goal is also to introduce women and young girls to computer engineering careers.

Link: Website and LinkedIn

International initiatives

Here is the list of other initiatives for women developers around the world!

Woman Who Code

Organizing events, awarding scholarships, mentoring... Women Who Code aims to build a community around the values of kindness, tolerance and equality.

Link: Website

Girls Who Code

An association aimed at putting children and young girls on the path to engineering, and coding in particular.

Link: Website

Django Girls

Introducing programming and making people love it through events, workshops and tutorials around Python and its Django web framework.

Link: Website

Initiatives to be revived

Unfortunately, community involvement can be difficult to sustain over time. Here are a few initiatives that have existed and could use a fresh boost!

50inTech

50inTech is not an association but a French startup whose goal is to rebalance jobs in tech to reach the 50% mark for women in positions!

Link: Website