Getting Girls into Computing

As part of British Science Week, eight enthusiastic Year 9 girls ventured to the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge to discover more about computing, coding and the development of the digital age.

This permanent exhibition combines hands-on experiences and interactive displays ensuring that the history of computing is brought to life in a fun and relevant fashion but on Thursday 12^th March entry was augmented by a brilliant careers conference championing the success of women in traditionally male-dominated careers.

The opportunity was linked to our partnership with ‘The Female Lead Society’ for whom we are one of the 10 founding schools in the foundation’s schools programme. Founder of the charity, Edwina Dunn OBE, is a data scientist and inventor of the Tesco Clubcard. Edwina delivered an inspirational opening address introducing Vanessa Sanyuake, Founder of Girls Talk; Joanna Sweeney, a Top 20 Woman in Data and Tech; and academic Lucy Wittman, who studies the Ethics of AI, Data and Algorithms at Cambridge University.

Led by Head of Computer Science, David Owen, and Sally Saunders, Assistant Head: Pupil Personal Development the trip was a great success. Sally commented: “It was an inspiring day and challenged stereotypes around the tech industry where less than 15% of workers in leadership positions are female. This is why opportunities like this are so important. In addition to the excellent talks from young women who are working in areas such as sport, data analytics and AI ethics, the museum showcased a huge collection of industrial and home computers. Students were amazed at how things had progressed since the 1970s and 1980s and were delighted to try out their programming skills on models such as the BBC B and a Commodore 64. David was also thrilled to set the top score on Tetris!”

Since its inception, our branch of The Female Lead Society has been a platform for Year 9 and above to engage with important issues surrounding advocacy, empowerment and informed intellectual debate around issues surrounding women in society. We have run a range of trips, hosted external speakers and provided space for our young women to develop their confidence and sense of self as well as nurture their career aspirations. 

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