"Computing is too important to be left to men"said the late Karen Sparck-Jones, winner of the2007
BCS Lovelace Medal, when interviewed by the
BCS earlier this year. And she may have a point.
Sparck-Jones said that she had always worked in "natural
language information processing" rather than computing. That is to
say, "dealing with information in natural language and information
that is conveyed by natural language, because that is what we
use".
Asked if she felt it was important to encourage more women into
IT, Sparck-Jones said, "I think it is very important to get more
women into computing. I think women bring a different perspective
to computing, they are more thoughtful and less inclined to go
straight for technical fixes.
"We need women to see the intellectual challenges and social
importance of computing, all of the things that computer systems
are used for now, and why it matters to society."
The BCS has a specialist group for women, BCSWomen, which aims
to bring together women working in IT and to promote the industry
to women who are unsure about taking up an IT-related career.
BCSWomen hosts an online discussion forum with more than 800
female BCS members supporting and encouraging women working in IT.
Members offer technical and managerial advice, assisting others to
solve problems, navigate difficult situations at work, and
celebrate successes and achievements.
Several BCSWomen members have secured promotions after being
supported by group members through the online network.
BCSWomen recently held a celebration of the achievements of
women in technology at the IEEE Software Engineering and Formal
Methods conference 2007 in London. The event attracted an audience
of more than 120 people, and one audience member flew in from
Zurich especially for the occasion.
BCSWomen also celebrates the achievements of girls in
technology. At the event, Sue Black, founder and chair of BCSWomen
and head of department at the University of Westminster, presented
Katie Phillips, aged 11, and Priyanka Thakrar, aged 12, with
BCSWomen certificates and vouchers worth £100 for their
achievements in IT.
The BCS and Equalitec are holding a lunchtime networking event
on 13 November at BCS's London offices to learn about the pleasures
and passions of innovation and being a female innovator. The idea
is that those attending can share knowledge and learn about how
they too could become an innovator.