Tag Archives: gender minorities

Alyanna with Internet for All poster

BCSWomen Lovelace Colloquium 2024

About the BCSWomen Lovelace Colloquium

This year two Edinburgh Napier students got their poster accepted to speak at the Lovelace Colloquium. This conference was created in 2008 and is specifically for women and gender minorities in computing and related degree courses. Every year a university in the UK hosts this one-day event full of incredible people in tech. The day consists of speakers, poster-presenting sessions and a social afterwards. The idea is to create a place for women and gender minorities in computing to come together, not with gender as the focus, but to present and discuss computing in an open space. We all know the issue of the gender gap in computing (around 20% of students in tech are women). We face imposter syndrome, misogyny, and a multitude of things to battle to be able to thrive in our careers. This conference also strives to allow speakers to attend without barriers, so travel and hotels, if needed, are paid for by the conference or by the university. This year there were over 250 women and other gender minorities there. Clara and Alyanna describe their conference below.

Lovelace Participant Experience: Clara O’Callaghan

I went to the conference after having my poster about digital forensics in private browsing accepted. It was my first academic poster and I was quite nervous to meet everyone and scared that I wouldn’t be able to answer the questions people asked. However, when I got there, the atmosphere was so lovely and I felt comfortable around all these amazing people. The posters I got to see were absolutely incredible and I kept getting into long discussions on a poster and talking for half the time slot. I probably only saw about a quarter of the posters in depth. I was on crutches during the event and the organising team were lovely and kept checking in that I was doing okay. The speakers were really interesting and I learned about robotics and AI bias as well as what Ocado does and how they operate their warehouses. Very futuristic! While it was predominantly women, there were a fair few non-binary people and as a non-binary person I never felt uneasy about it. Overall, I had the most amazing time and will definitely be going back next year – especially as it’s just in Glasgow!

Lovelace Participant Experience: Alyanna Posadas

For my poster, I decided to focus on optimising web accessibility in real-time using generative AI. This was my first time presenting a research poster at an event like this, and I absolutely loved it! I came away from the event learning a lot of interesting things from both speakers and students, connecting with my top choice employer, and making new friends in industry. The best part of the day was listening to the research done by other participants. The subject matter varied wildly, and a lot of it concerned things I was completely unfamiliar with. It made me realise how much of a bubble I was in when it came to computer science! Overall, I loved taking part in the event and am grateful to be a part of it.

Why should you apply?

I strongly recommend to any women or gender minorities in university to take advantage of this opportunity as well! The colloquium increased my confidence in myself and my own skills, and got me more excited about the future of computing as a whole. It exposed me to many different research areas and the great innovations happening within them. I talked to a lot of amazing people and was able to build real connections that day.

The events of the day were incredibly valuable as well. There were employers from big and small companies, companies that assist with job applications, and universities promoting their postgraduate programmes. The speakers discussed various subjects, but I found it all very valuable. The topics ranged from current trends facing the industry, working at a specific company, or advice about how to land your dream job. There was also a panel where we got to ask questions. And it was great to hear career advice from people who could speak on their experiences being a woman or gender minority, or the struggles of breaking into tech.

It was also the first time I got to research a subject matter I had a lot of passion and interest for in such great detail. It gave me an excuse to reach out to professors and professionals online to ask about generative AI, data processing, web accessibility so I could learn more. This helped me build connections and made me feel less intimidated by my field. Many university students, especially Masters or Honours Project students, are already completing an in-depth research dissertation. It’d be very easy to apply your own project to this conference and take advantage of the networking opportunities present (e.g., employers) and connect with other women and gender minorities in the field! I’ll definitely be taking part in it next year, especially as it’s in Glasgow nearby!

More pictures and reports from the Colloquium

Ada Scotland Festival 2023

Ada Scotland Festival 2023: ENU events

Four events from SCEBE and Equate Scotland:

ENUSEC presents: Capture the Flag Competition

"ENUSEC

Test your cyberskills in ENUSEC’s annual Ada Scotland CTF. The competition is open to school students (S3-S6), college and uni students and runs throughout the Festival (2-13th October, 2023).

Equate Scotland presents: Journeys into Data Science

Equate Scotland Journeys into Data Science

Equate Scotland Journeys into Data Science

Online,
Thursday 5th October 2023, 12:30 to 13:30.

Join Equate Scotland online to explore opportunities for women and non-binary to come into a career in data science later in life.

Edinburgh Napier University presents: S2 Girls into STEM

4th year Civil Engineering Student

4th year Civil Engineering Student

Merchiston Campus,
Tuesday 10th October 2023, 11:00 to 15:00.
On Ada Lovelace Day, we’re welcoming S2 girls and non-binary students into our the School of Computing, Engineering, and the Built Environment (SCEBE) at Merchiston, for STEM inspiration, challenges and fun.
To register a group please email outreach@napier.ac.uk

Napier STEM presents: Women and gender minorities in STEM careers event

Napier STEM Ada Scotland Careers Event

Napier STEM Ada Scotland Careers Event

G04, Merchiston Campus, Wednesday 11th October 2023, 14:00 to 16:00.
Career-themed get together at Merchiston.
Women and gender minority students in Computing and Engineering (especially SCEBE students) are invited to come and listen to short career talks from professionals, ask questions, and meet other people, especially our Napier STEM society, and eat ice cream.

Lots more Ada Scotland Festival events

Lots more events on the Ada.Scot website and more being added daily.

If you want to chat about any of these events or get involved, please contact Ella Taylor-Smith.

Napier STEM Society

Napier STEM Society – a society for women and gender minorities in STEM

Have you ever felt like the odd one out in lectures? Want to meet others who share this experience? With women making up 26% of STEM (Science, Technology, Maths and Engineering) university graduates, it is quite likely you are not alone.

Napier STEM is a brand new society at Napier which aims to overcome this by supporting and encouraging women and other gender minorities in STEM throughout their university experience. Hopefully, by reading about our society and what we have been doing will encourage you to become a member and join in with our next event.

Follow this ENSA link to become a member.

Idea for the society

Our society was created, while a group of us were discussing opportunities to strengthen the community of women and other gender minorities in STEM at Napier with the amazing support of Equate Scotland and SCEBE (The school of computing, engineering and built engineering).

Societies for women in STEM are common at other universities, but Napier was lacking one. We decided this was a great opportunity to put one in place, and we have found it very important to remain inclusive for other gender minorities who may also feel isolated in STEM.

As a society, we aim to provide support when students may be struggling and encourage STEM students to continue their studies. There are often gaps with support due to the discomfort and isolation often felt by these students. We strive to build a network for gender minorities in STEM with other students, and also beyond university with opportunities to be introduced to people in industry too.

Napier STEM society logo

What we have done so far

Our society has been holding weekly study sessions throughout the year at Merchiston Campus, with information about them being shared on our Instagram and discord. This has been a great chance for people to come along, meet others in the society and get a change of scenery for their studies and uni work.

This past year, we’ve managed to put together many fun events. Our first being our winter crafts event. This was a small event trying to kick off the promotion of the society while giving people a break from studying. We provided crafts supplies and a selection of movies to gain the festive feel before the semester ended.

We managed to host a very successful pub quiz last semester. Held at Three Sisters, we provided lots of our freebies from Equate, along with gift voucher prizes and sweets to our winning teams. There was an amazing turnout with all our tables full and a great atmosphere amongst everyone attending.

Our society members at the pub quiz

Our society members at the pub quiz

In partnership with Equate Scotland and SCEBE, we hosted Launching into STEM, which was a panel event open to women and gender minorities. We invited along four inspiring women at different stages of their STEM career to speak about their journey and experiences, with the chance to ask question and network. This had a very successful turnout and a lot of positive feedback, both from guest speakers and attendees.

Panel members and chairs at Launching into STEM event

Panel members and chairs at Launching into STEM event

One of our most recent activities, was a little movie and pizza night. After a poll of different movies around women/gender minorities in STEM on our Instagram, we selected The Imitation Game. The event was relaxed and low-key on the run-up to the end of semester and is something we will definitely be hosting again.

Ideas for the future

Our main goal is to grow the society and encourage more women/gender minorities to join to help provide a better uni experience for them when they may feel overwhelmed or isolated. As the society is new, we have been growing steadily, but currently we are still small, though we have a lot to offer students at Napier.

Next year, we plan to continue our regular study sessions and socials throughout the year. Particularly, we plan to provide networking opportunities by getting together groups to attend conferences, along with providing fun activities to allow people to get to know each other and a ceilidh for people to attend. We also plan to organise a lead walk in Edinburgh and movie nights to provide more fun and relaxed events for people to come along too. Continuing our partnership with SCEBE we will aim to have reduced costs, making them more accessible to people who wish to attend.

Make sure to look out for our freshers event at the start of next year and come along and join the society to meet others.

Equate Scotland and SCEBE

Equate is an organisation which strives to support and training women in STEM throughout their careers and companies with developing and maintaining diversity in the workplace. In connection to Equate, we STEM student champions are ambassadors tasked with organising events to encourage community for women in STEM within our university.

Our connections with Equate and SCEBE have played a massive role in our success. They provide funding allowing us to keep our membership prices low and our events cheap, gaining more from our partnership. We often work in partnership with them for events, helping promote workshops Equate are running and studies happening within SCEBE at Edinburgh Napier University.

Feel free to dm or email us if you have any questions or want to learn more about us

ENSA: https://www.napierstudents.com/organisation/societies/8440/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/napierstem/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/napier-stem-a46444254/
Discord: https://discord.gg/ZkZjxeAnVz
Email: napierstem@gmail.com