TEC IS A GIRL THING – BY CAITLIN GOULD

Operating from HUSA - our office space here at Hall for Cornwall - Tec Girls is non-profit organisation inspiring girls to engage with the worlds of Technology, Engineering and Creative Digital (TEC).

By CAITLIN GOULD, TECgirls Founder and Director

Like many, I aspire to the idea that every child can be anything they want when they grow up. However, the reality is children as young as four are already forming in their minds what jobs are available to them based on
gender stereotypes. This is especially true in Technology, Engineering and Creative Digital (TEC).

At Bluefruit Software, we did everything we could to hire a diverse team of software engineers, but we struggled to find female engineers. This is because girls are opting out of a technical education.

In the last 20 years much has been done to encourage more girls into science and maths. Girls are now almost equal to boys and excelling in these subjects too. However, when it comes to computer science, engineering and design technology girls are still woefully underrepresented. In Cornwall only 4% chose GCSE computer science and only 5% chose design technology. I created TECgirls to inspire more girls to opt in!

Since 2019 TECgirls has run events in museums and schools across Cornwall, teaching children digital skills and that a digital future is open to all. We’ve also learnt that women feel they’ve missed the boat, wishing that TECgirls was around when they were children. So I set up TECwomen CIC, a Community Interest Company that provides training and support for women who work or want to work in technology, engineering and digital industries.

With inclusivity at its heart, I wanted to find us the right home - somewhere that shared our values. When we heard about HUSA, HfC’s co-working space, we wanted to be part of it. TECwomen has been based at HUSA for over a year. During this time, we’ve engaged over 3,000 children in 60 schools across Cornwall. We’re now running a free 8-week online digitalUPLIFT programme for women.

In the last three months alone, seven women from the first programme have found new careers in digital roles. And where TECgirls is active, schools are reporting an increase of girls taking up computer science, which is brilliant.