Coding for agency: Why digital creation empowers girls beyond jobs
27/12/25
In today’s digital world, coding should not be seen solely as a pathway to future jobs.
For girls across Europe, learning to code is also about agency: the ability to shape digital spaces, express ideas, and influence technologies that increasingly mediate social, economic and civic life.
While girls and boys show similar levels of digital engagement at a young age, a gap emerges when it comes to programming itself.
Eurostat data show that only 9.9% of girls aged 16-19 reported writing code in the previous three months, compared with 19.7% of boys, despite girls demonstrating strong digital content creation skills more broadly.
This suggests that girls are active digital users and creators, but remain underrepresented at the foundational level of digital production: coding.
From digital users to digital shapers
This gap matters beyond labour-market outcomes. Coding is a form of literacy.
Just as writing enables participation in public debate, coding allows young people to understand, question and build the digital tools that shape everyday life – from apps and algorithms to online platforms.
Without these skills, many girls risk remaining consumers of technology rather than shapers of it.
Persistent social norms and stereotypes continue to shape how girls perceive digital skills, while limited access to learning environments designed with their needs in mind further narrows participation.
Together, these factors help explain why girls’ early digital confidence does not always translate into sustained engagement with coding.
Coding as part of digital citizenship
Coding as an agency is not limited to engineering careers. It becomes most effective when linked to creativity, collaboration and real-world relevance.
Programmes that integrate coding with music, storytelling or social themes show how creative approaches can strengthen confidence while linking digital skills to self-expression and community impact.
This broader understanding aligns with contemporary frameworks on digital citizenship, which emphasise not only technical competence but also critical thinking, ethical awareness, communication and participation.
Coding projects that foreground design, teamwork and problem-solving help girls see digital skills as tools for action rather than abstract technical exercises.
Scaling empowerment through EU Code Week
Across Europe, initiatives already reflect this shift. Italy’s Digital Girls ER programme combines mentoring with creative coding projects to help girls explore STEAM pathways in supportive environments.
Community-led initiatives such as Django Girls similarly focus on learning by doing, collaboration and inclusion, enabling participants to build real digital products from the outset.
EU Code Week is well placed to amplify this approach by encouraging activities that go beyond syntax: projects that link coding to storytelling, civic challenges, creativity and teamwork.
When girls experience coding as a means of expression and impact, engagement becomes intrinsic and sustained.
Empowering girls through digital creation is not only about preparing them for future employment. It is about ensuring they have the confidence, skills and agency to actively shape Europe’s digital future – as creators, collaborators and leaders.
