Computer Scientists take part in DigiGirlz event

On 6 February, a group of Year 8 Computer Scientists visited Microsoft for their annual ‘DigiGirlz’ event. Computing remains a male-dominated world, but Microsoft are industry leaders in tackling this – 36% of their professional workforce are women, compared to 17% worldwide. This high-profile event sought to inspire more girls to pursue a career in technology.

Keynote speaker (and Microsoft chief executive) Cindy Rose explained why she loves her work at Microsoft and why women in Computing are important both to her, and to the industry’s future. Then the girls spent time with more female computer scientists to build tech solutions to everyday problems. They heard from a group of young women, only a few years older than themselves, explain why they love their jobs. Finally, our girls pitched their ideas to a group of senior Microsoft executives, including Cindy herself.

St Mary’s Head of Computing, Simon Clarke, explained the importance of this event: “It’s a wonderful opportunity to our girls to see, first hand, what a career is tech might look like. All the girls came back to school buzzing about the event, and many of the girls told us that they were beginning to take seriously the possibility of a technology career”.