Model Lyndsey Scott has a shocking, amazing secret – she also enjoys coding and majored in computer science! She’s even developed her own apps all while modeling for brands like Gucci and Victoria’s Secret. Who knew having ladyparts and being pretty wouldn’t keep you from enjoying coding?! We’re all stunned. I know you are too.
In all seriousness, there’s a pretty great interview with Scott over at BusinessInsider where she talks about how she got her start in coding and why she enjoys it. She’s really active on a site called Stack Overflow where she helps other users by offering advice. She’s also created a couple of apps including one for portfolio creation for models and actors on the iPad and one that lets users fund explore and fund youth education in Africa.
When asked about how to get more girls into computer science, Scott has an obvious but true answer – give them the chance!
I know I personally became interested in programming when I was 13 or younger as soon as I realized I had a TI-89 calculator capable of being programmed and a book full of documentation. I think, in general, many young people would love to better understand what goes into making the technology they use on a regular basis, but too few of them are given the opportunity.
Just last month though, students around the world were in fact given an opportunity with the release of Code.org’s Hour Of Code and over 20 million of them tried programming for the first time within weeks. And please pass along this message for me to this “particular VC”: Most of them were girls!
Just like any other industry dominated by men (so: most of them), it really all comes down to opportunity and knowledge. Coding is something one can do as an individual, as Scott is proving, without necessarily needing to fight through the ranks of men currently working in tech. But for more girls and women to be interested in working in technology in the first place, they need to be aware of how to do the work by getting involved and getting educated, and that’s where the tech world needs to make a change. It’s great to see an already-visible woman out there repping women in tech and confusing misogynists everywhere.
(via Styleite, BusinessInsider, image via Vogue Italia)
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