Figures from the Institute of Coding (IoC) suggest online learning of coding skills is helping achieve a gender balance, levelling out a previously male-orientated field.

IoC: Online learning levels out programming skills

Recent course sign-ups during lockdown have shown a near gender balance (47% female vs 51% male). The IoC described this as a marked improvement from the gender split seen last year in more traditional digital skills education, where only 16% of computer science graduates were women.

The IoC say they have also seen a massive uptake on their online programmes since the start of lockdown (an almost 2,000% increase since February 2020), perhaps demonstrating a new national trend to upskill and reskill from home.

Its collection of online digital skills courses is hosted on the “social learning” platform FutureLearn and has been created in partnership with the University of Leeds.

The Department for Education (DfE) recently featured six of the fifteen courses in the ‘Digital Skills for the Workplace’ collection in its own online platform called ‘The Skills Toolkit‘ (pictured right).

“It is clear that, as the UK’s economy turns to the tech sector for recovery, a broad and diverse group of people will need digital skills,” said Rachid Hourizi, Director of the Institute of Coding. “However, the national digital skills gap still requires a fundamental structural change that aligns employers and educators more closely together, while helping individuals navigate the landscape of digital education.”

“The Institute of Coding is leading the charge when it comes to encouraging this change, through campaigns such as CTRL Your Future and collaboration with leading employer bodies like techUK. Lockdown has signalled a real appetite for more accessible and flexible courses and we’re here to meet this demand.”