Princess Scientist (2/4): Lyndsey Scott

Lyndsey Scott is a freelance software engineer who has been featured by Forbes, NPR, and others. And if this isn’t impressive enough, she’s a model! She has modeled for Victoria’s Secret, Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and more!⁣

She currently models and programs while advocating for minorities in STEM – she should be a role model for everyone! Unfortunately, her fame also revealed how prevalent sexism is in tech. A spotlight on Lyndsey Scott draws people (trolls) incredibly skeptical of her coding skills. Despite programming originally being a female dominated profession (computer coders were made up entirely of women during WWII because men were expected to fight), women in computer programming now barely make up 20% of the workforce (up from 14% in 2014). When WWII ended, more women entered the profession than men because computing was marketed to be “like knitting” and women were seen as being more suited for their attention to detail. This slowly changed as programming increasingly became associated with geeky men – perhaps thanks to home computers initially marketed for boys. ⁣

Retention of women in computer programming fields is notoriously low with (toxic) work environments to blame. But if women and minority programmers become more prevalent, then the field can be more inclusive. And this is why Lyndsey Scott is so amazing; she advocates for minorities in STEM while shattering stereotypes!⁣

(The script in the background is actually one of her codes.)⁣

Originally posted on Instagram April 16, 2020

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