Girl Geek Afterglow

Congratulations to Sarah Blow, founder of Girl Geek Dinners.

To celebrate the  fourth anniversary, and mark a new era in the movement, a room full of some of the brightest women in technology came together last night to consider one very fundamental question: why are people, particularly girls, not finding careers in science and technology appealing?

Having sat through an MA in education whilst working on my (as yet unfinished) PhD, I have my own ideas: they took years to conclude. Similarly,each and every person in the room had some years experience to call upon, particularly those who have forged careers in genuinely technical fields.

So it was a massive ‘ask’ to find answers to such a huge question in a very short space of time.

In the right corner are those who have earned their place in the male dominated club by knowing everything about their subject, and more. In the left are the gadget ‘girls’, desirous of pink gadgets and fluff. And every shade of woman’s interface with technology in between.

Despite the diversity, some very informed responses, and attitudes, were generated, suggestions were made and stereotypes shrugged. Maggie Philbin, who moderated, was extremely adept at ensuring that actionable items were taken away.

As that content becomes available I’ll share it here.

And what was heart warming was that, generally, most do not feel that there’s a glass ceiling for women in technology. There’s just not enough female talent coming into the industry in the first place.

Which makes opportunities to meet and discuss, like the Girl Geek Dinners, very important sources of both support and solutions. Far from a mysandristic, ‘we hate men’ environment, men are positively encouraged to join the debate.

Meanwhile, I’d like to recognise Sarah for having taken an idea and made it happen. Internationally. From her small idea an international movement of some of technology’s brightest women has grown.

Claire Thompson, Waves PR

1 Comment

Other Links to this Post

1. WavesPR » Girl Geek Afterglow | tech-gals.com — August 27, 2009 @ 2:46 pm

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

Leave a comment