Karlie Kloss believes that her profile might entice girls who otherwise never saw themselves as computer programmers. Photo: Getty

"Can Supermodel Karlie Kloss Get Girls Excited About Coding?" came the recent headline from the US action-fund organisation, Think Progress.

For those unfamiliar with the name, Kloss is an American supermodel who's fronted campaigns for some of the world's most famous designers, such as Christian Dior, Calvin Klein, Karl Lagerfeld, and perhaps, most memorably, Victoria's Secret.

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After taking computer coding classes last year, Kloss suddenly saw a new world of potential opening up—and not just for her. Yes, she was learning how to create software, apps and websites, but it's what she began noticing around her that had her sit up and take notice. Computer coding was clearly the future, but it seemed a future dominated by men.

And so, putting her supermodel powers of influence to good use, Kloss decided to do something about it. Believing that her profile might entice girls who otherwise never saw themselves as computer programmers, Kloss struck up a partnership with New York-based Flatiron School to create 20 coding scholarships for girls, aged 13 to 18.

Kloss isn't the first genetically-blessed model to jump on board the coding juggernaut. Fellow 'angel' and self-confessed computer geek Lyndsey Scott has long divided her time between the 'catwalk and coding'. Like Kloss, Scott is also keen to 'pay it forward', taking her role as mentor at non-profit training initiative, Girls Who Code, seriously.

With Australia's own tech industry crying out for more talent and universities consistently reporting a significant decline in enrolments in computing degrees among women, it's clear that it's not only the US on the lookout for new avenues of recruitment.

But can these impossibly beautiful women really make a difference to young women here?

Yes and…well, no, says Murray Hurps, CEO of Fishburners, one of Australia's largest online start-up spaces serious about increasing its female base.

On the one hand we can't under-estimate the value of good, positive—highly visible—role models, he says, but on the other "the most helpful thing we have is our female founders, who are just getting on with creating wonderful companies, and really inspiring others to do the same".


One thing that Kloss and Scott do get absolutely right, however, is that if we really want to see a global change then we need to reach out to the next generation of girls.

Sally-Ann Williams, engineering community and outreach manager, Google Australia, says "STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) has never been more important to our kids' careers. We need more Aussie girls to get into STEM—and role models are a vital part of that.

"Girls need to be present in an increasingly important career path, and it's up to us to make sure this happens."

In addition to its Anita Borg scholarships and access to free online tools for learning to code, via its own training program, Start with Code, Google Australia supports Robogals, a student-run organisation that aims to increase female participation in STEM, as well as helping fund Engineers without Borders that aims to encourage girls from Indigenous backgrounds.

Earlier this year, the highly successful US-based Girls Make Games, run by the irrepressible Laila Shabir, also held its inaugural Australasian games and programs summer camps in Melbourne and Sydney.

At the Sydney event was 15-year-old Sydney student Clodagh Milne. "I've been a gamer since I was seven," she tells me. "Girls Make Games allowed me to learn about coding and therefore how games are constructed. I found it very exciting and was interested to see what code made up the games that I play today.

The course didn't only open up a new world, says Clodagh; it unlocked a new language.

"I started thinking about code when I was playing games. It was great to learn the kind of coding that is used to control character's movements in a game playing games."

Clodagh says perhaps the biggest surprise was that the majority of the students there were between seven and 10.

At the Melbourne event was eight-year-old Georgia Theofilos. As Nicole, Georgia's mum, tells me, Georgia had always been interested in computer games so when the opportunity came up to learn how to actually create them she "literally jumped at the chance".

"Georgia's always been a confident, creative kid," Nicole says. "But I do think the course helped her to channel that creative energy."

While Nicole says that Georgia wouldn't have a clue who either Karlie Kloss or Lyndsay Scott are ("Georgia's a feminist like her mum"), Nicole believes the celebrity element is simply indicative of a general groundswell.

And she may have a point. So popular were the Australian summer camps, that plans are afoot for two more Girls Make Games in Sydney and Melbourne in June or July this year.

So can Kloss & Co really get girls excited about coding? Yes, why not? Their highly-clickable brand of feminism will undoubtedly inspire more young girls to take the plunge, yet it's their practical approach that really speaks volumes by providing young women tangible opportunities to not only embrace the future; but rewrite it.