Tag: tech industry

Edinburgh school tackles gender gap in computing science with event open to girls across the city

With girls and women remaining underrepresented in computing at school and in the industry, Toni Scullion, teacher, campaigner and founder of non-profit charity dressCode, is working with St George’s School in Edinburgh to inspire more girls to see a future for themselves in the tech industry.  

The all-girls school is hosting its third annual Fearless Women in Computing event on Tuesday 11 November, an event which is open to all schoolgirls across Edinburgh. The event, which last year attracted 600 girls from 13 schools from four council areas, aims to encourage more girls to pursue computing science in school and in their professional lives.  

The day-long event will feature immersive experiences, workshops and stalls in collaboration with more than 20 companies, including The National Robotarium, IBM and The Quantum Software Lab at the University of Edinburgh.

There will be several guest talks on topics, including AI and women in tech, careers in finance and tech and seeing yourself in computing.  Skyscanner will sponsor transport for girls from state schools to attend, with priority given to providing the opportunity to pupils from areas of high deprivation.  

Scotland needs 13,000 new digital professionals yearly but produces only 5,000, with women making up just 23% of the digital technologies workforce in Scotland, revealing the clear need for more gender diversity within the industry.  

The gap begins at school – girls studying Computing Science in Scotland has dropped from almost 10,000 in 2001 to under 2,500 today, giving Computing Science the largest gender gap of any traditional STEM subject.  

Toni said: “I founded dressCode after noticing the inequality in Computing Science when I first became a teacher, and while we have made positive progress, there is still a need for urgent action.

“Girls almost always outperform boys in Computing Science through school and university, but as it stands only 23% take the subject at National 5, a percentage that only drops at each level to Advanced Higher.  

“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.

“Positive experiences are what people remember and this event is incredible for the pupils; you know that these are moments that will stick with them and form their future choices. 

“Unfortunately there is no equity of access to Computing Science in Scotland, so not every pupil is fortunate enough to experience Computing Science and decide if it is something they enjoy; the door isn’t just closed, there is no door.

“If we don’t act now, we won’t see equality in our lifetimes – this event isn’t just a step in the right direction, it’s a critical action to ensure girls are the architects of a future designed for all.” 

dressCode was founded in 2017 to bridge the gender gap in Computing Science by engaging, inspiring, and raising awareness about the diverse opportunities available in the tech industry. 

Carol Chandler-Thompson, Head at St George’s, 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.

“We know how important it is to show girls from early in their schooling that there is space for them in AI and technology industries, which is why we made Computing Science a core subject from P5 to S2.

“This summer 80% of our Higher Computing students achieved an A grade– it’s clear that when girls are encouraged to take Computing Science, they thrive.  

“Our Fearless Women in Computing event brings together schools, companies and innovators from across Scotland to create a hands-on, inspiring experience for girls across Edinburgh.

“We have seen first-hand the impact these events can have – hearing the stories of women in the industry, seeing the recent advances in robotics and AI, even “hacking Google” – the day is an eye-opener to the world of computing, and we would encourage as many schools as possible to come along.” 

100% of girls study Computing Science from P5 to S2 at St George’s, with a focus on building confidence and encouraging participation among pupils.

The school offers community lessons on Friday afternoons, so any girl from an Edinburgh state school can attend and benefit from the facilities and expertise available.  

The Fearless Women in Computing event is on 11 November from 9:30am – 3pm at St George’s School, Edinburgh.

It is open to any Edinburgh school girl from P6 to S6.  

Students recognised at Young Software Engineer of the Year awards

An Abertay University student has been named Young Software Engineer of the Year at the 33rd annual ceremony from Scotland’s tech trade body ScotlandIS.

Daniel Gearie took first place at the awards ceremony, held as part of the ScotSoft2022 conference, in Edinburgh last week for developing software that can physically locate the position of a drone operator using a variety of tools and techniques.

While drones are being used to transform many industries, they can be problematic in the wrong hands,– with airport disruptions providing a recent example. Locating drone operators, rather than the drones themselves, can provide longer-term solutions to these issues.

When reviewing submissions, the judges were particularly impressed by the way Daniel identified gaps in the effectiveness of current market-leading technology to track drone pilot locations, with his prototype recognised for being expandable in its use and potentially more secure than other systems.

While Daniel took top spot, the awards recognised a further three students for their outstanding work.

Lilli Freischem, of University of Edinburgh, was named runner up for producing a new software tool that can identify essential genes – ones that are critical to the survival of an organism – in a wide range of life forms.

The detection of essential genes is a grand challenge in personalised medicine, the discovery of new drug targets in cancer, and in the identification of genetic markers for the diagnosis of disease. Lilli’s software is able to communicate seamlessly with tools that are already widely adopted, and end users can use its improved predictive power with little additional training or technical expertise.

Robert Gordon University graduate, Raufs Dunamalijevs, was also a runner up for his work to implement two new penalty estimation algorithms in quadratic unconstrainted binary optimisations, improving the accuracy of combinatorial optimisation problems, which forms an important and complex part of computer science and AI.

Finally, Callum Inglis, Computer Science graduate from the University of Strathclyde, was awarded the Leidos Best Engineering Prize at the ceremony.

He won the award for developing a low-cost, off-grid sensor monitoring system, capable of remote sensing in areas without any existing infrastructure.

While the system is built to be applicable to many industries, Callum’s demonstration of his system focussed on indoor and outdoor air quality data collection, which could ultimately be used to support and inform public health decisions.

The longstanding Young Software Engineer of the Year Awards are held annually by ScotlandIS, to champion budding talent in the Scottish technology industry and highlight the innovation and ideas coming from Scotland’s university students. 

To enter, universities submit the best final year software engineering project from among their undergraduate computing science and software engineering courses for the awards.

Karen Meechan, CEO at ScotlandIS, said: “This year, we are celebrating ideas that display an impressive combination of innovation, creativity, and scalability. Each idea brings a potential real term impact to its related sector, making a genuine contribution.

“For decades we have recognised some of the best minds coming from our universities, demonstrating the strength and breadth of tech talent being developed within Scotland.

“In a sector that shows consistent demand for skilled talent, it’s important that, as an industry, we take time to recognise the individuals who truly embody the definition of talent.”