Ada Lovelace Day 2020
Tech moves so quick it’s down to us in industry to ensure we can equip and support young people who will be coming into our industry.
Rachel Skelton
Happy Ada Lovelace Day! (13th October 2020)!! Virtual events were held internationally for Ada Lovelace Day, a day to celebrate the achievements of Women in Stem (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths), whilst remembering the first woman programmer: Ada Lovelace.
How did we celebrate Women in Stem?
In collaboration with Calderdale College, Covea Digital and Blue Prism I was on a panel alongside a bunch of fantastic Women in Stem:
- Ana Howes – Global Head of educational Services at Blue Prism
- Bindi Basan – Head of Customer Office, Asia Pacific at Blue Prism
- Becky O’Farrell – Technology Recruitment Partner at Covea Insurance
- Carla Castillo – Senior UX Designer at Covea Insurance
- Rachel Skelton – Software Engineer – Covea Insurance
Our audience were from secondary school onwards and some of our goals for the round table were to raise awareness, support and encourage young people at education level to get into tech.
At school level it can be really daunting getting into tech. For me I was 1 of 3 girls on my IT software development college course, and again 1 of 3 on my university course BSc Computing. The feeling of imposter syndrome can strike early on and it can be intimidating. That’s why events such as the round tables, celebrating Women in Stem, awareness of tech and the inspiring women who are doing brilliant work in the industry, are detrimental to tech growth. We must be more transparent as the tech industry to provide young people with the knowledge of all the ever growing opportunities. Tech moves so quick it’s down to us in industry to ensure we can equip and support young people who will be coming into our industry.
Huge thanks to Julian and his colleagues at Calderdale College for organising and hosting the event, thank you to everyone who took part!
How did you celebrate Ada Lovelace day? Let me know in the comments below and check my events page to check out what else I’ve been up to!
