“I’m not going to take GCSE Computer Science anymore,” said my 14 (going
on 21) year old daughter. She’s a YouTube junkie, Overwatch fanatic
and – since seeing Bohemian Rhapsody – a Queen superfan. I
tried hard to hide the look of disappointment on my face as I asked her why.
I work as Talent Acquisition Lead for Microsoft in Middle East and
Africa, and formerly for the UK, too. So, I spend my days working with my team
to hire technical talent, while trying to ensure that we attract a healthyproportion of females into the recruiting process – and it is tough. In the UK,
a recent PWC research study found that only 15% of people working in STEM in UK
roles were female; only 3% of females said a career in technology was their
first choice.
Don’t stop me now
Don’t get me wrong, although I’d love my daughter to
turbo-charge her digital skills, getting deeply into artificial intelligence,
machine learning, or data science, she made it clear that this was not the path
for her. But surely continuing to study Computer Science to GCSE level, or
A-Level at a push, wasn’t too much to expect?
We know that the gender gap in digital skills starts at school.
Females make up just 10% of A-Level computer science students, which in turn
has a majorimpact on the pipeline of talent going into the technology
industry. So challenging is the issue that the UK government has just announced
investment in an initiative aimed at tackling this problem. In April 2019, the
‘Gender Balance in Computing’ research project received £2.4 million of funding
from the Department of Education to trial a number of schemes aimed at
improving girls’ participation in computing.
Having been at Microsoft for 19 happy years, my daughter also
started at Microsoft (at the workplace nursery) when she was a year old. She’s
since spent a fair bit of time during school holidays with me in our family
friendly office, drawing on the walls (it’s allowed, I promise), playing on theXboxes, shooting some pool, playing on the indoor swings (yes, really), and
periodically making the most of the Christmas parties or holiday
‘learn-to-code’ events. She had access to lots of role models and the awesome
roles in an amazing office environment. And similarly, she wasn’t put off by
any gender imbalance in the classroom; she goes to an all-girls school.
Two of the commonly cited reasons for this gender disparity are
a lack of role models and lack of knowledge around the great careeropportunities. So, which of these was it that put off my daughter? It was
neither.
Another
one bites the dust
The reason that she’s dropping Computer Science is shockingly
simple. As a keen musician, singer, performer and – as I mentioned – Queen fan,
when her school’s timetabling wouldn’t permit students to take the combination
of Music GCSE with Computer Science GCSE, her mind was made up. You could
combine Computer Science with any other subject, just not Music. Simple as
that.
Students are advised, in the school ‘exam options’ booklet, that
“for a balanced curriculum you should choose one arts subject (art, drama,
music), a humanities subject (business, geography, history) and a
technology subject (cooking and nutrition or Graphics).”
Back in 2013, an Institute of Physics report entitled ’ClosingDoors’ shows that the majority of schools fail to encourage subject choices in
a gender neutral way, which narrows children’s choices. The
timetabling issue along with the school options booklet are classic examples of
this; sending a subtle but effective message steering girls away from the
subject. A perfectly logical combination of subjects becomes unusual,
impossible, against the norm. And leading the technology list with Cooking and
no mention of Computing, really?
I want to break free
If we’re serious about closing the digital skills gap for girls,
then tech companies like Microsoft need to take the lead. We need to promote
programs drawing more women into the sector. This is the next generation
workforce. They’ll be sorely missed if schools and businesses don’t start
encouraging them right now. They must offer better visibility to role models
and the great range of STEM careers available. Such innovations include
Microsoft’s DigiGirlz
initiative for secondary school pupils, the Codess community, and our Women Think Next
networking events.
At the same time, schools should remove each and every blocker
to girls gaining digital skills and studying STEM subjects, especially Computer
Science. All the role models in the world won’t help if a simple scheduling
issue or a clumsily written booklet closes the door. In this case, it did for
more than one female student.
Raising the issue, my daughter’s school quickly responded,
acknowledging the feedback, promising to remediate for next year. They even
invited me to deliver some careers sessions.
My daughter loves school. She’s getting a wonderful education
with teachers who do an amazing job every day. She’s still pursuing other STEM
subjects, aspiring to a career in science and particularly Astronomy. And
who is her new role model? None other than PhD Astronomer and Queen guitarist,
Brian May. Don’t stop her now.
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