TUNE, a software start- up company is offering free housing, along with different benefits, to attract women inclined in computer science and technology.
According to dailyrecord.com, TUNE has been helping the women of University of Washington with a rent- free, eight bedroom and 3,100 square- foot home. The company wants to create a support community for like- minded women who are interested in technology.
TUNE's new program is part of their efforts to have more women on their filed it is usually male- dominated. According to National Center for Women and Information Technology, women make up more than half of the country's work force but they still have a small part in inventing technology.
More companies and program are being introduced and encourage women to take interest in technology field. Different organizations are building support groups for women who have the same interest find a community that can foster their inclination. One example of these organizations is Girls Who Code, a non- profit company, is introducing computer science to high school girls while Hackbright Academy in San Francisco and Ada Developers Academy in Seattle are teaching coding and technical skills.
According to union-bulletin.com, Elizabeth Ames, a senior vice president at the Palo Alto, California-based Anita Borg Institute, said "There is definitely a momentum, but I would caution that it's not going to be solved immediately. There are some real challenges and it will take time."
Though University of Washington is not involved with TUNE's housing program, 31 percent of the under graduate degrees of computer science awarded by the university were given to women which is considered as twice the national average.
Ed Lazowska, UW professor of computer science and engineering, said "There's no silver bullet. You have to do lots of little things all the time." As part of the university's efforts to increase the women's population in the field of technology, the university has conducted computer science summer camps for its students and teachers, seminar that explores women's part in computer science and 40 percent of the university's teaching assistant were women.
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