UTX United Technologies Corporation

By Sara Castellanos 

United Technologies Corp. wants to help close the gender gap in science and technology by investing in Girls Who Code, a nonprofit organization that provides intensive education in computer science to high schoolers in the U.S. and Canada.

The multiyear commitment of more than $1 million will help Girls Who Code expand its computer science training programs in the U.S., and, in turn, increase the pool of female technologists from which to hire, said Vince Campisi, senior vice president and chief digital officer of United Technologies.

"Diverse people working together is how competitive differentiation comes to bear," said Mr. Campisi, who helped spearhead the partnership.

Mr. Campisi announced the investment in Girls Who Code at an event Tuesday at the company's Brooklyn office. United Technologies is one of about 60 enterprise companies that have partnered with the Girls Who Code program to date.

The funding will go toward increasing the number of coding clubs, of which there are currently 6,000. In addition, it will go toward developing and offering more college programs where Girls Who Code alumnae can support each other while pursuing degrees in science and technology. The money also will help support a Girls Who Code expansion in India, although executives declined to divulge details.

Farmington, Conn.-based United Technologies remains on track to split into three companies by mid-2020, The Wall Street Journal has previously reported.

The move combines the industrial conglomerate's Pratt & Whitney jet engine unit and aviation services business, as well as its recently closed $23 billion acquisition of Rockwell Collins. The Otis elevator and Carrier building-systems businesses will each become separate companies.

United Technologies aims to hire 35,000 people in the U.S. by 2022, with many working in science, technology, engineering and math-related roles, Mr. Campisi said. Those jobs will include software product managers, data scientists, user-experience designers and cybersecurity staffers, he said.

United Technologies was among several Fortune 500 companies that recently set a goal of achieving gender parity in senior leadership ranks by 2030, with an interim goal of 30% women in senior leadership roles by 2020. United Technologies has already met the 2020 goal, according to a company spokesman.

Founder and Chief Executive Reshma Saujani started Girls Who Code in 2012 to help close the gender gap in science and technology. The organization will have trained 185,000 girls to code by the end of this year.

Women account for less than 20% of computer science majors and less than 25% of the computing workforce in the U.S., Ms. Saujani said, citing research from Girls Who Code and Accenture PLC. With help from corporate partners, the organization estimates it could achieve gender parity in entry-level computer science jobs by 2027.

Girls Who Code has more than 13,000 alumnae on college campuses to date and it expects to expand that cohort to nearly 30,000 in 2019. But it wants to do more to help women gain confidence in their skills and continue pursuing technology-related college degrees. Studies show that about half the women who declare computer science as their major will drop out of the program by the time they get to senior year, she said.

"We doubt ourselves way too much," Ms. Saujani said at the Brooklyn event. "We always want to take another class, get another skill set or degree. I don't think we need more skills. We need more belief in ourselves."

United Technologies' funding will help the organization increase its college clubs to 300 by mid-2020, up from 30 today, Ms. Saujani said.

Write to Sara Castellanos at sara.castellanos@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 12, 2019 17:43 ET (22:43 GMT)

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