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Rewriting the gender code: Bath Spa University challenges industry to get more women in tech

Thursday, 28 April, 2016

Bath Spa University has launched #ThisGirlCodes, a campaign to get more young women to enter the tech industry.

Academics, students and women working in the industry say that there are a series of myths that need to be challenged around the industry, and that more action is needed so that this traditionally male-dominated sphere can benefit from more diverse recruitment as the digital economy continues to grow.

#ThisGirlCodes will use social media to highlight inspirational stories of women who are already successfully working or studying in areas such as coding and software development, who will act as ambassadors for the programme.

Lee Scott, subject leader of Creative Computing at Bath Spa University, said: “We’re encouraging everyone in the computing industry to share the great work women are doing in this field by using #ThisGirlCodes so that they can inspire the next generation of coders, animators and game makers.

“To us, it seems a no-brainer that more young women should be looking at careers in the computing industry. We’re looking to close a gender gap, to challenge mind-sets in education, in the workplace and industry, as well as how women see themselves in the creative computing space.”

The Creative Computing course at Bath Spa University was launched in 2015. Unique in its offering, it is a three-year full-time BSc course that can be taken as a single honours degree with specialist pathway options in gaming, animation or software development, or it can be combined with a number of complementary subjects.

Emma Klasse, a Creative Computing student on the animation pathway at Bath Spa University, said: “The perception of computing and coding is that it’s complicated and maths-heavy, but that’s not the case at all – coding is more like learning a language than maths.
“My strengths were primarily in the arts, and I looked at this course as a way of learning skills that are relevant to today’s job market – it looked modern and progressive and has lived up to my expectations.”

Dr Dana Ruggiero, senior lecturer in learning technology at Bath Spa University, said: “There’s a lack of diversity in gaming in particular, but there are some amazing female role models in game design - Anna Kipnis, Sheri Graner Ray, Amy Jo Kim, Brenda Romero – we just need more in the UK!

“We lose girls from Year 8 and Year 9 in schools, due to different socialisation of girls and boys and ingrained ideas about which skills suit particular careers. Along with engineering and chemistry, computing is seen as systematic, but narrative and communication are as important as mathematics.”

One ambassador, Teodora Yankova, software developer at The Filter, says: “I’ve worked in large organisations with big IT departments, but hadn’t worked with a female developer until a couple of months ago. There’s a huge gender gap, but equally huge opportunities – I know that projects I work on can benefit millions of people. That’s exciting.”