Comments on: Digital Britain: Basically we’re f****d.

By: Lily

Lily — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 22:02:30 +0000

Really interesting post and research, I’ve been interested in these issues since I did my Computer Science degree and I definitely agree that a massive part of this all is about ‘priming the pipeline’ and getting girls interested in a younger age. There’s certainly been a lot of research done to even show that different teaching methods work better with girls, for example, pair programming, and of course girls are more likely than boys to choose career paths based on their enjoyment of lessons so it’s even more vital to get it right!

I think there are a number of different programmes that are being carried out by a lot of groups at the moment, so it’s hard to evaluate what has the most effect, but would be interesting to hear how you think the Big Ambition programme is doing.

By: F**K off

F**K off — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:37:30 +0000

F**K off- if you don’t want to end up like Trina Thompson, don’t even IT a computer.

By: @techiebird

@techiebird — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 13:55:09 +0000

We should definitely be trying to create more female technology role models, and make sure both girls and boys get the chance to see the range of cool and fun technologies there are to work with.

Having said that, while we had ‘Women In Technology’ events at my (girls only) secondary school, I’m not convinced they made any difference in my case – I was already geeking out at 11 with my ZX Spectrum, and knew I wanted to do something technical.

Another related point – I work in an IT department for a big corporation and most of the colleagues I most look up to don’t have an IT degree. There are a lot of other engineering disciplines represented, and some of the most influential technologists I can think of are people with social and behavioural sciences backgrounds. Multi-discipline teams are definitely a good thing!

So… perhaps we should be showing how (for instance) behavioural scientists are helping software and hardware designers change the face of how people interact with machines, or how technology and the arts meet to create possibilities that didn’t exist 20 years ago.

By: Ray Scott

Ray Scott — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:24:56 +0000

I usually read your posts in Google Reader, so your ‘new’ blog is WOW! The mutt’s nuts

If I’d known you were interviewing Alistair Stewart, I would have asked you to pass on a shout-out from the rest of us regulars on Waterloo to Alton service

By: hermione

hermione — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:39:16 +0000

I don’t think its that girls have less of an interest in IT, I think they are interested in different ways- I’m sure I read somewhere that girls use social networks more than men?!

Maybe if the courses were designed to incorporate current IT business and Web 2.0 they might be more appealing?

I understand that you don’t have to take a course in IT to end up working in IT and many of the best professionals come in to the IT sector via a different route- but that’s the point- why aren’t they coming in via IT courses-could it be that the courses aren’t teaching the right things?

By: Armin Talic

Armin Talic — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:25:38 +0000

I think it has very little to do with stigma.

It comes down to the fact that, no matter which way you look at it, drastically less women have an interest in IT.

Having graduated a 4 year course in Computer Science this year, I saw a big increase in women taking computing related courses at Northumbria uni.

GCSE and A level IT courses need to be spiced up before we can expect and increase in uptake.