Tag: gender gap

600 Edinburgh girls gather to address the gender gap in Computing Science

600 school girls from 15 state and independent schools across Edinburgh and the surrounding areas have gathered today for the third annual Fearless Women in Computing event at St George’s School.

The event aims to address the gender gap in Computing Science by bringing together schools, tech companies and innovators to create an immersive, hands-on experience, with more than 20 companies in attendance, including The National Robotarium, IBM and The Quantum Software Lab at the University of Edinburgh. 

Computing Science teacher and founder of dressCode, Toni Scullion, said: “The Fearless Women in Computing event is a fantastic initiative.

It’s amazing to hear the sounds of high fives and exclamations from the girls when they solve a problem or make something happen.  If we don’t act now, we won’t see equality in our lifetime.”

St George’s Head, Carol Chandler-Thompson, said: “Women make up only 22% of the AI workforce, meaning they are being left out of the most influential, high-paying jobs of the future.  

“Our Fearless Women in Computing event brings together state and independent schools, companies and innovators.  The day is an eye-opener to the world of computing.”

Through hands-on workshops, dynamic demonstrations and real-world role-models, the day underlines that tech careers are for everyone and encourages these young women to step confidently into their future in computing, STEM and tech careers.

Supporting Scotland’s women entrepreneurs

Report identifies 31 ways to reduce gender gap and boost economy

The Scottish Government will carefully consider proposals to support more women into entrepreneurship, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said following publication of a wide-ranging independent review.

Pathways: A New Approach for Women in Entrepreneurship was commissioned by the Scottish Government to identify ways to unlock untapped potential, close the gender gap and boost Scotland’s economy.

The review – led by Ana Stewart, an entrepreneur and investor, and co-authored with Mark Logan, chief entrepreneur to the Scottish Government – makes 31 recommendations. The steps include:

  • providing start-up training and support in a range of pop-up locations to help more women, and other primary care givers, access services
  • integrating entrepreneurial education into schools and further education
  • clarifying existing access pathways into entrepreneurship
  • improving access to start-up and growth finance
  • tracking and measuring progress towards full representation in entrepreneurship

Commenting on the report,  First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “I welcome Ana Stewart and Mark Logan’s work in delivering a powerful review of the barriers facing women in entrepreneurship in Scotland and presenting a compelling set of recommendations aimed at removing them.

“The review’s findings are challenging but underline the need to tackle the root-causes, as well as the immediate barriers, of this inequality.

“Fully realising the entrepreneurial potential of women in Scotland will not only promote greater equality in our society, it will also deliver significant benefits for the economy. 

“The Scottish Government will respond quickly to the review as a whole, and its recommendations.”

Review chair Ana Stewart said: “This review has, through a combination of extensive stakeholder engagement and robust data analysis, revealed that women face many significant barriers to entrepreneurship.

“Only one in five businesses in Scotland are female-led, while start-ups founded by women received only 2% of overall investment capital in the last five years. By taking a root cause and effect approach, our recommendations focus on dramatically increasing female participation rates to drive a vibrant and fairer entrepreneurial economy.”

The First Minister welcomed the publication of the review on a visit to Roslin Innovation Centre, where she met Ishani Malhotra, Chief Executive of Carcinotech, and Dr Kate Cameron, who founded Cytochroma.

Read the review report, Pathways: A New Approach for Women in Entrepreneurship.

pathways-new-approach-women-entrepreneurshipDownload