Research by the University of Roehampton and the Royal Society recently found that only 20% of computing candidates for GCSE and 10% for A level Computer Science were girls. 

The Department of Computing aims to increase this figure and inspire more girls and women to pursue exciting careers in computer science. One way this is achieved is by creating a number of outreach and engagement innitiatives specifically targetting girls and women.

Hello World Hack - Junior Hackathon for Girls

To inspire more young women with engineering and mathematical sciences, Imperial Computing and Mathematics Departments are working together to create a one-day hackathon for girls. The project was one of five to be successfully funded by Imperial College London’s Societal Engagement Seed Fund, and will target school-aged girls between the ages of 7 and 10 years old. The project aims to build confidence and self-esteem in maths and computing and remove negative stereotypes before they have had chance to fully form.

‘Hello World Hack’ will take place at the College’s South Kensington Campus and will include a range of hands-on coding, programming and maths-based problem-solving activities. Each activity will be led by computer scientists and mathematicians who identify as women, exposing young girls to positive female role models in these subject areas. A total of ten schools will be invited to take part, each bringing with them approximately 15 students formed of teams from Years 3, 4 and 5. 

The project aims to:

• Introduce computer science to children, particularly girls, at a young age.
• Encourage more young women to pursue STEM subjects and ultimately STEM careers.
• Show school students the variety of things they can achieve by learning to code and the range of career options open to them within both maths and computer science.
• Build and develop relationships and collaborations with local schools (particularly those who are underperforming, have high proportions of students entitled to free school meals or have very little or no computing provision).
• Showcase Imperial College London as not only a place of high-calibre research and innovation but also a place that is accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds.

This event will take place on Tuesday 27th June 2023, 10-3pm

 

To register your interest please email Dr Jackie Bell (doc-outreach@imperial.ac.uk) by 5pm on Monday 5th June 2023. Schools with a high proportion of students entitled to free school meals or with very little or no computing provision are strongly encouraged to apply.

The Frances Bardsley "Watch the Skies!" MegaGame - 2018

Teaching Fellows and Alumni from Imperial College London ran a MegaGame event at The Frances Bardsley Academy For Girls to support their Gifted and Talented students.

This MegaGame is inspired by the classic computer game 'UFO Enemy Unknown' and the more recent excellent XCOM game. Both games, whilst very absorbing at the tactical level are naturally thin on high level politics and diplomatic action. The purpose of this MegaGame is to explore some of the bigger issues facing a world under covert (or even overt) attack by an alien menace.

The basic premise is that aliens from outer space are increasingly visiting earth to abduct, investigate, and terrorise. What is less clear are their motives. Are they ultimately aiming to subvert and take over, or perhaps render earth demoralised and weak enough to invade, or is it some unfathomable motive comprehensible only to a twisted alien psychology? The truth is out there, somewhere.

The main part of the game is about how humanity as a collection of political entities decides to react to the current emerging crisis, alongside evolving global or regional crises that characterise our day to day world. Players will therefore have more than just space aliens to deal with – they will be responding to humanity as well.

Girls aged 14 to 15 spend a day taking on a role within a team, each representing a country of the world, trying to guide their country safely through a number of crisis events whilst dealing with public opinion of their actions. The roles for each country are:

• Head of State: leads and coordinates the team and control the country’s Special Agents.
• Foreign Minister: the focal point for communication with other teams and represents the country at UN Security Council meetings.
• Chief of Defence: responsible for the deployment and actions of all military units, including the advanced units used to intercept aliens.
• Chief Scientist: collects alien technologies, decides on priorities for research and represents the country at the International Science Conference. 

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Engineering Summer School for Girls

The Faculty of Engineering at Imperial College London runs an Engineering Summer School for Girls to promote the breadth of engineering disciplines available to those who study science and maths subjects. This is done using a range of interactive projects and activities each led by the different Departments that make up the Engineering Faculty.

Girls aged 11 to 14 spend a week at Imperial College visiting the aeronautics, bioengineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, computing, earth sciences and engineering, electrical and electronic engineering, materials science and engineering and mechanical engineering departments. Activities include leactures, workshops, practical activities,  tours and projects.

Learn more about Imperial's Engineering Summer School for Girls, including details of how to apply

In the Department of Computing, attendees find out about the applications of computing and visit the Dyson labs where they find out how computers 'think' and have a go at playing Jenga using a robot arm. Topics in previous years have included:

• SmartDust - Prof Julie McCann
• When programs go wrong - Dr Alastair Donaldson
• Making and healing blood - Dr Ruth Miesener
• Special effects - Prof Paul Kelly
• Superman X-Ray vision - Dr Ben Glocker and Dr Jiefei Ma

"I did not expect to see such modern and interesting technology [...]"

"[what I enjoyed the most was] finding out how computers can medically help humans"

Department of Computing staff and postgraduate students are also involved in the AnitaB.org initiative, with Department representatives leading the local London AnitaB.org community.

Interested in what else is going on at Imperial for women in STEM? Check out Her Imperial.