Parallel Worlds in the EU #devchallenge

This is a submission for the 2026 WeCoded Challenge: Frontend Art

Show us your Art

• Live experience: https://codepen.io/editor/southy404/pen/019d10f4-ca7f-79b6-b36e-145496c7d2ba

This is an interactive, scroll-driven experience that visualizes how two identical careers slowly diverge over time.

Both individuals start with:

• the same education
• the same skills
• the same ambition

The only variable that changes is gender.

As you scroll, small differences compound into large outcomes - in salary, promotion speed, and visibility.

At any moment, you can toggle "Remove Bias" and watch both paths instantly align again.

Inspiration

When I thought about gender equity in tech, I didn’t want to create a static illustration.

I wanted to show something more uncomfortable:

That inequality doesn’t always appear as a single dramatic moment - it emerges slowly, through accumulation.

The concept behind Parallel Worlds is simple:

• no single event explains the gap
• but every small difference contributes to it

The "glass ceiling" is not just one barrier.
It’s a system of subtle frictions:

• slightly lower starting offers
• delayed promotions
• different feedback language
• fewer high-visibility opportunities

Individually, these seem small.
Together, they reshape entire careers.

That’s why the project includes an interactive "Remove Bias" toggle.

When activated, the system removes these frictions - and suddenly:

The trajectories become identical again.

The message is simple:

The difference was never talent.

Data & Context

This piece is grounded in real-world data from the EU:

• 11.1% average gender pay gap in the EU (Eurostat, 2024)
• 19.5% women among ICT specialists
• 35.3% women in management roles
• 81 women for every 100 men promoted to first-level management (McKinsey)

The goal wasn’t to simulate reality perfectly,
but to translate these patterns into something you can feel visually.

My Code

This project is built as a lightweight frontend experience:

• HTML
• CSS
• JavaScript
• scroll-based storytelling
• dynamic career simulation
• real-time bias toggle
• glass-shatter interaction

Code + Demo:
https://codepen.io/editor/southy404/pen/019d10f4-ca7f-79b6-b36e-145496c7d2ba

Final Thought

Most people don’t experience inequality as a single obvious barrier.

They experience it as:

a series of small differences that never quite feel big enough to question - until the outcome is impossible to ignore.

This project tries to make that invisible process visible.

If you made it to the end:

Try toggling bias on and off one more time.

That contrast is the entire point.