It’s well known that Computing Science has much to do in way of gender balance. According to a report published by the BCS (2020), just 12% of pupils taking National 5 Computing Science in Scotland in 2020 were female. This figure falls to 7% for female pupils taking Computing Science at Higher, and just 2% at Advanced Higher.

Of course, these figures are reflected in uptake of Computing Science at university and college, and in Scotland’s tech workforce. But we lose potential female talent long before choices are being made about university courses and career paths. From primary school – if not even earlier – girls are given the impression that computers are ‘not for them’.

For example, one of our current female Graduate Apprentices at the University of Glasgow was told that she should study administration, rather than computing. Why? Because she was a girl. Now, years later, she’s changed careers and is excelling on our Software Engineering programme.

Closer to home, when my own daughter was in Primary Two, she was told (by a male pupil) that she couldn’t choose Pokémon as her ‘show and tell’ topic. Why? Because computer games were for boys.

These examples hopefully illustrate what we’re up against, and why the Ada Scotland Festival exists: to challenge stereotypes and encourage more women and girls to get involved in Computing Science.

The Ada Scotland Festival brings together partners involved in addressing gender imbalance in Computing Science and tech across Scotland. Our partners include employers, universities, and schools, delivering a range of talks, competitions, and activities in October each year.

The Festival launched in October 2020, featuring 32 partners, 16 live events, and dozens of other activities. In 2021, we featured 19 live events and many new partners, and the 2022 Festival – due to kick off at the new Barclays campus in Glasgow on 12 October – is shaping up to be bigger still.

This year, we’re delighted to be able to offer some in-person events for the first time, in addition to online sessions. All of our events will be posted at https://ada.scot/2022.  If your school would like to get involved, please drop us a line at hello@ada.scot – we’d love to hear from you.

In the meantime, you can find details of many of last year’s events and activities on the ada.scot website. There are also video recordings of many of our previous events. And, if you’d like to stay in touch please register for our newsletter.

By working together, we can ensure the opportunities offered by Computing Science are available to all – join us!

 Dr Matthew Barr is Director of the Ada Scotland Festival – https://ada.scot/