This International Women’s Day we wanted to shine a light on Sophie, our fantastic Junior Software Engineer. Sophie is in her third year of studying Computer Science at Liverpool University and has been working for Teachmate for a year.
Sophie has been busy working with our developers to create tools for the new Teachmate website, which is currently in production and will be launched soon.
We caught up with her to learn what it’s like being a woman in a male-dominated industry and what advice she has for other women who are considering a career in STEM.
Working and studying in a male-dominated field 👨
Computer Science is a male-dominated industry and Sophie’s course is no exception to this. She said “I can usually count on one hand the number of women in my lectures. It can feel quite overwhelming. But despite this, there is a lot of support for women. The university regularly showcases women working in STEM and lets us know they are here to support us.”
Building a more inclusive world for women in STEM 🥼
As little as 10 years ago, the number of women working as Software Engineers and in other science, technology, engineering and mathematics roles was painfully low. Last year, the Institute for Engineering and Technology reported that the number of women in STEM occupations has doubled to over a million in the past decade.
Despite this, barriers are still very much in place. Research by IET revealed that women are not encouraged to think about STEM careers in school (45%) and women get put off by how male dominated the industry is (32%).
When asked what advice she would give to other young women who are considering a career in Computer Science, Sophie said “Things really do feel as though they are on the rise when it comes to women in the field. My advice would be to keep practising programme skills outside of just the tasks they tell you to do at university. Keep up to date with the labs and seek work experience if you can to further develop your skills.”
Why representation matters 👩🏻🔬
We love having Sophie on board with us. She’s a fantastic example of someone who is breaking down barriers and showing how fulfilling a career in STEM can be.
But remember – representation matters and it all starts in the classroom! A great way to support your female students is by showcasing the many ways in which a career in STEM is possible for them.
Get inspired by these Teachmate tools:
Character Interview – Interview famous women in STEM, such as Katherine Johnson: A physicist and mathematician who calculated the trajectory for the 1961 space flight.
YouTube Ingest – With YouTube Ingest, you can input a YouTube video URL on women in STEM to create resources from its content.
Misconceptions Generator – use our Misconceptions Generator have an interesting discussion with your class on misconceptions about women in STEM.