A London-based firm has launched an initiative which encourages all female employees to gain skills in coding.
The Access Platform (TAP) is supporting all female employees of the business, regardless of their position, to join the coding programme.
Georgina Munn, the company’s customer success manager, was the first graduate to join the programme.
“In my role, I speak on a daily basis with TAP’s clients about the product, its capabilities and how it is helping them to reach out to students in a way they have never been able to,” she said.
“However, until recently, there were limitations on the degree to which I could engage with our clients on technical aspects of the software, because I had no experience in this area.
“The technology behind The Access Platform was something which really interested me, as it is so fundamental to the success of our business.”
Munn, a graduate of the University of East Anglia and King’s College London, was enrolled on to a beginners course run by Code First: Girls, a social enterprise launched in 2013, which aims to have taught coding to 20,000 women by the end of 2020.
“I now have skills I never thought I would possess, in areas I certainly never dreamed I would find as interesting as I have,” she said.
“The coding initiative has been very rewarding on a personal level, and has also equipped me to be able to advise clients on more technical aspects of the platform.”
The Access Platform uses bespoke technology to enable universities to recruit more students through peer-to-peer conversations and user-generated content, and more than 20 universities across the UK are using the platform.
Nik Higgins, one of TAP’s founding partners, added: “Since The Access Platform was founded, we have always been very clear in our vision or the company and the team.
“Our goal is that as a business we constantly push available technology to its limits, while keeping an eye on the future for the next innovation which will enable us to give our clients the leading edge.
“For our team, the mission is simple; to allow them to grow and develop in their own areas of expertise and in areas they may never have dreamed possible.
“Linking up with the Code First: Girls initiative is one way of doing this, and I am delighted Georgina managed to fly through what was a very tough selection process to win a place on the course and has found the process so empowering and fulfilling.”