Bias and negative perceptions around girls in tech needs to be tackled at a much younger age. Here's why

Two different initiatives from the University of Glasgow are aiming to help tackle the ongoing gender imbalance in the technology sector by reaching girls at a very young age.

The sixth Ada Scotland Festival is currently taking place, with the aim of encouraging more female students to carry on with their computing studies through education and into the workplace.

In 2023, young women made up just 19% of Scottish high school pupils studying computer science. This gender imbalance is something Dr Matthew Barr has experienced first-hand during his tenure at the University of Glasgow’s School of Computing Science. He notes:

When I moved to the computing science department here at Glasgow, I was quite surprised to find that gender balance hadn't improved in the 25, 30 years since I was a student. It's still lurking around about 20% of our students are female.

Problems

The Ada Scotland ...