Let’s Get More Women in Tech

Black’s certainly made her mark on the tech world over the years. In 1998, she set up the UK’s first online network for women in tech, BSCWomen, which provides networking opportunities for women in computer science around the world.

Black says she was inspired to set up BSCWomen after attending a Women in Science conference in Brussels. At the event, she realized she loved networking with other women in tech and wanted a way to keep those connections going. She said: “Even if we didn’t meet in person, at least we could now chat online, because it was quite rare to meet up with lots of women at one time in public.

“Whereas, with the group, which had several hundred members straight away, there was a whole group of women who were interested in talking about technology with each other.”

Like many young women, I never considered studying a degree in computer science, feeling it was an incredibly difficult and complicated subject mainly involving coding. But Black says this is part of the problem – there’s a bit of misunderstanding regarding what computer science actually is, and people don’t realize how exciting it can be.

“I’ve always found computer science ridiculously exciting, there are so many opportunities and different jobs in technology. One of the main misconceptions is that it’s all about being a coder. Of course, we need people writing code, but that’s such a small percentage of the computer science jobs out there. There are so many other jobs, for example in cybersecurity, data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence.”

One reason often given for the lack of female interest in computer science and technology is the lack of obvious female role models for young women to look up to. However, Black argues the problem isn’t a lack of role models, it’s the fact these women are so often overlooked compared to men in the sector.

She said: “There are loads of women out there who have started companies that have done amazing things in technology, but I’m sure if you ask people on the street about technology pioneers, they’ll still talk about Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates.”

She gives Dame Stephanie ‘Steve’ Shirley as an example. Shirley set up one of the UK’s first software houses, which was responsible for programming Concorde’s black box flight recorder. She wanted to create opportunities for women with children, and predominantly employed women until the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 made this illegal.

Sue said: “I would argue she’s even more of a pioneer than Bill Gates, because she had women working at home producing top-notch software, before Bill Gates and all the others came along. She’s now one of the UK’s major philanthropists, and yet most people have never heard of her.”

Entering a traditionally male-dominated environment has plenty of challenges of course, but Black is keen for young women to not be daunted by the idea of being a role model for the next generation of female students.

Instead, she says being a role model should be embraced rather than feared: “Don’t think of it as a burden, think of it as an opportunity. One of the most amazing things that’s happened to me is that I’ve ended up becoming a role model without even realizing that it’s happening.

“Almost every day now I get someone saying to me ‘I heard you speak two years ago and now I’ve done this because you encouraged me and said that you can do it, just go for it.’ So, it’s actually lovely and a great opportunity to be a role model, it’s not a burden at all.”

Black seems poised to become a role model for even more young women, having recently been announced as the Women’s Equality Party’s candidate in next year’s elections for Mayor of London. She said she wants her campaign to highlight how important equality and government support really are, pointing to her own experience of living in a women’s refuge as a single mother of three children when she was 25.

With support from the state, Black was able to go back into education, pursue her current career and build a better life for her children. If women’s refuges, social housing, childcare support and maintenance grants hadn’t been available she wouldn’t be where she is today.

Reflecting on this, she told us: “There are lots of people in situations where you need the state to support you to help you to maximize your potential. And if you don’t have those things, it would stop millions of people from achieving their potential, which in the long term isn’t good for any of us.”

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