Mother’s Day is a significant occasion to thank your mother and celebrate her motherhood. She is the one who loves you unconditionally and will not give a second thought if she needed to save your life by giving up her own.
Mothers’ contribution to society is unmatchable. Motherhood is the greatest gift of God to humanity.
What comes to mind when you envision a Mom coder? Most likely, you don’t picture the mom software engineer who’s awake before sunrise to code before the kids wake up — or the mom web developer who takes a break not to play video games, but to play with the little ones. Today, it’s not unheard of for the worlds of motherhood and tech to collide, as moms are changing what it looks like to be a coder. If you’re curious about coding, check out this list of “why’s” more moms are finding their place in tech.
1. You’re More Than a Mom
You may take on many traditional mom roles: caretaker, cook, housekeeper, chauffeur … but you can be more than what motherhood expects of you. UX design or web development can give you a purpose beyond being a mom. As a UX designer, you could improve an app’s accessibility for users, or as a web developer, you could build a website for a nonprofit. You take on many roles that make a difference, and a role in tech can be an incredibly rewarding one too.
2. Motherhood and a Career: Living the Dream
Being a mom and having a career is a persistent negotiation. It’s certainly achievable, but the demands of juggling both doesn’t make it easy. Programming, however, is one avenue that helps make it more possible. The nature of programming often offers the opportunity to work remotely, part-time, and during flexible work hours, so a parent can get that desired work-life balance. Freelance and contract work is another option for someone who sees coding as a side gig for extra income or as a challenging and creative outlet.
3. Tech Education Built for You
Not only can a career in coding bring flexibility, but so can tech education. Technical schools can value the individual needs of learners and allow them to create a learning plan that fits school into their schedule. Fast-paced coding bootcamps with a rigid structure typically demand the learner to pause on life and dedicate 12 weeks solely to school. There are options though that offer longer programs designed to give you flexibility and time to focus on learning.
4. A Pathway for Reentering the Workforce
Tech is a great field to break into for those who have taken some time off to focus on family life and are ready to return to work. Today’s tech education opportunities make it possible for moms to prepare for a job in a new profession in a short amount of time by offering accelerated programs. These programs are designed to give learners like you relevant training for quick entry into a field where you can build a lifelong career full of growth and advancement.
5. Changing What It Means to be a Coder
The tech field is diversifying, yet it may still be considered as unknown territory for moms. We believe in changing the status quo — and that includes bringing more mom representation to the world of software engineering, web development, and UX design. You can redefine what a coder is and momhood doesn’t have to stop you. Explore your path, empower yourself, and empower other moms out there while you’re at it!
6. Your Kids Will Think You’re Awesome
Reality — balancing mom life and coding school is not easy. And like any learner, you’ll need to revisit those reasons for why you started to stay motivated and push forward. For many parents, one of the most powerful motivators is to set an example for their kids. As a coding learner, you’re role modeling the values of working hard and setting out to achieve a goal. You get to represent life lessons like how to fail forward, do hard things, and go after something you want.
7. Teach a Future Generation of Techies
As technology continues to advance and the world innovates, there will always be a need for tech talent. A career in tech is exciting and meaningful with unlimited room for growth, job opportunity, and financial stability. It’s a great pathway for moms — and a great pathway for posterity. So, as a mom coder, you can pass on what you learn to your kids. Not only can you get them excited about technology, but you can teach them about problem solving and critical thinking.
8. Two Fams Are Better Than One
The coding community is known to be a tight-knit community, especially when you’re a learner at a tech school. Learning programming or UX design in an accelerated program can be a grind. Your peers and staff become your Family who’s there for you for help, support, and celebrating your wins. These relationships also tend to last beyond graduation as coders often stay in touch as friends and to be resources for one another.
9. Becoming a Role Model
Nothing helps women like other women. And by learning to code, a mom can easily become a role model that other women need.
Over the years, many cultural forces have discouraged women from STEM fields. The 90’s notoriously featured a talking Barbie that blurted out that “math is hard” and “party dresses are fun.” This sends the toxic message that women specially moms are appreciated for their bodies and not their brains.
While our collective culture has gotten more progressive, many women still don’t know what they can do until they see other women doing it. Just think: by learning to code, you may positively impact entire generations of women!
10. Kids Ideal Motivation
Being an example for your kids will develop their curiosity and you can help them visualise the possibilities for how coding and technology can solve problems of the future. Kids that start early and learn to code from a young age are going to be the pioneers of the future.
Your child could go on to change lives by working on apps, robotics, and other computing programs that help to shape our future for the better in the education, health, and energy sectors.
