Little Miss Geek

Little Miss Geek[1] is a campaign that aims to inspire young women to consider careers in the technology and video-games industries. Little Miss Geek is the non-for-profit subsidiary of Lady Geek, a campaigning agency which aims to make technology more accessible and appealing to women.

History

The campaign was launched on October 3, 2012 at the Apple Store on Regent Street by Belinda Parmar and her team at Lady Geek.[2]

The Little Miss Geek campaign has received coverage in BBC,[3] WIRED,[4] Metro,[5] The Guardian,[6] The Independent[7] and Computer Weekly.[8]

Her In Hero Campaign

British MP and Home Secretary Theresa May supports the Little Miss Geek campaign.

For 2013 Ada Lovelace Day, Little Miss Geek created a campaign to put the 'Her In Hero'. Saying that 'Brilliant successful women in technology exist, but they are not celebrated in the same way their male counterparts are', the campaign urged schools and MPs to celebrate great female technologists, scientists and inventors to inspire girls with brilliant role models.[9]

The campaign took place at over 15 schools across the UK, reaching out to over 10,000 students and gaining the support of over 40 MPs including Ms Jo Swinson MP, Hon Ed Vaizey MP, and Rt Hon Theresa May MP. The campaign received media coverage across Metro[10] and the Guardian.[11]

An event was held on the morning of Ada Lovelace Day at Highgate Wood School, featuring a talk from Siobhan Reddy of Media Molecule on her experiences with the games industry and how she got into it.

School Takeovers

On 8 March 2013 (International Women's Day) Little Miss Geek ran the ‘Little Miss Geek ICT School Takeover’[12] at two schools in London: Queen Elizabeth's School for Girls and St Saviour's and St Olave's Church of England School. MP Simon Hughes attended the session and Boris Johnson who commented on the day.[13] The events made use of Raspberry Pi computers in order to give girls actual software development experience,[14] and address the gender imbalance in the technology industry.[15]

According to Parmar, the Takeover events were intended to address an image problem: "girls think that people who work in technology are pizza-loving nerds who can't get girlfriends. The reality is technology is one of the most creative industries out there".[16] "[Girls are] dreaming of using the iPad mini and the latest smart-phone, but they’re not dreaming of creating it,”[17]

Parmar is a critic of British technology education. She states: "The education system should be the place where we convert childhood experiences with technology into an understanding about computing, where we lay the groundwork for a child to push on into adulthood with not only an interest in tech, but also the skills to start competing in the industry. As it is, however, we are failing our youngsters.”.[18]

Wearable Technology Event

On 25 April 2013 Little Miss Geek held a Wearable Tech Event[19] in celebration of International Girls in ICT Day at St Saviour's and St Olave's Church of England School. Justin Tomlinson MP spoke to the girls about why the British Economy needs more women working in technology. The event featured contributions from fashion designer Francesca Rosella, wearable-technology specialists Cute Circuit,[20] Microsoft[21] and speakers from the British Fashion Council[22] and was designed to shatter the "myth that technology is a boys-club".[23]

British Vogue described the event as a "Collision of Fashion and Technology",[24] however Metro questioned whether fashion can be used to introduce girls to technology.[25]

Coverage

Wired Magazine, August 2013 (Print).

The Independent: iStyle.[26]

Marie Claire April 2013.[27]

Grazie April 2013.[28]

Vogue April 2013.[29]

Computer Weekly April 2013.[30]

The Independent March 2013.[31]

Sky News March 2013.[32]

New York Times March 2013.[33]

Forbes March 2013.[34]

BBC News March 2013.[35]

Yahoo News March 2013.[36]

References

  1. ↑ "Little Miss Geek". Little Miss Geek. 2012-09-25. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  2. ↑ "LadyGeek". LadyGeek. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  3. ↑ Parmar, Belinda (2012-10-11). "BBC News - Viewpoint: More women needed in technology". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  4. ↑ Olivia Solon (2012-10-22). "Little Miss Geek campaign encourages more girls into tech careers (Wired UK)". Wired.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  5. ↑ metrowebukmetro (2012-10-22). "We are the Geeky Girls: The mission to get girls creating gadgets | Metro News". Metro.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  6. ↑ Jemima Kiss (2012-10-01). "Why are so few women working in technology? | Life and style". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  7. ↑ Rebecca Armstrong (2012-10-08). "Kicking myself as Lady Geek catches the IT bug - Comment - Voices". London: The Independent. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  8. ↑ Ranford, Robyn. "Little Miss Geek launch at the Apple Store next Wednesday - WITsend". Computerweekly.com. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  9. ↑ "HER In Hero initiative". Little Miss Geek. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
  10. ↑ "Ada Lovelace Day: A celebration of the world’s first computer programmer". The Metro.
  11. ↑ Belinda Parmar (2013-10-15). "Putting the HER in Hero: why we need more tech superwomen". The Guardian.
  12. ↑ __start__. "Little Miss Geek ICT School Takeover 8.3.13". YouTube. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
  13. ↑ "Tijdlijnfoto's". Facebook. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  14. ↑ "Interview: The £25 computer which is teaching British children to code - Yahoo! News UK". Uk.news.yahoo.com. 2013-03-08. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  15. ↑ "LadyGeek want girls to get gaming". Gothinkbig.co.uk. 2013-03-08. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  16. ↑ "Girl Gamers Transform 'Pizza-Loving Nerd' Image". News.sky.com. 2013-03-11. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  17. ↑ Beth Gardiner (2013-03-07). "Computer Coding: It's Not Just for Boys". New York Times.
  18. ↑ Robertson, Andy (2012-04-18). "Little Miss Geek Campaign Offers Tech Inspiration for Girls". Forbes. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  19. ↑ "Little Miss Geek - Wearable Tech Event". YouTube. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
  20. ↑ Stephanie Hirschmiller (2013-04-30). "iStyle: The future of fashion - Features - Fashion". London: The Independent. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  21. ↑ "Little Miss Geek Wearable Tech Event - Microsoft UK Schools blog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs". Blogs.msdn.com. 2013-05-08. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
  22. ↑ "Little Miss Geek Event Gets Girls Interested In Tech". Marie Claire. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  23. ↑ "Belinda Parmar: Is Wearable Technology the Answer to Get More Girls in Tech?". Huffingtonpost.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  24. ↑ "Miss Lady Geek Hosts Wearable Technology Workshop (Vogue.com UK)". Vogue.co.uk. 2013-04-24. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  25. ↑ Vicki-Marie Cossar (2013-05-16). "Little Miss Geek and Nicole Scherzinger inspire girls into tech | Metro News". Metro.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  26. ↑ Stephanie Hirschmiller (2013-04-30). "iStyle: The future of fashion - Features - Fashion". London: The Independent. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
  27. ↑ "Little Miss Geek Event Gets Girls Interested In Tech". Marie Claire. 2013-10-17. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
  28. ↑ "Lady Geek Salutes 5 Stars Who Prove That Geek Is The New Chic | Hot Topics". Graziadaily.co.uk. 2013-04-23. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
  29. ↑ "Miss Lady Geek Hosts Wearable Technology Workshop (Vogue.com UK)". Vogue.co.uk. 2013-04-24. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
  30. ↑ Bateman, Kayleigh (2013-04-18). "The world of women in tech: What have I missed? - WITsend". Computerweekly.com. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
  31. ↑ Rebecca Armstrong (2013-03-20). "Why girls should be geeks, too - Schools - Education". London: The Independent. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
  32. ↑ "Girl Gamers Transform 'Pizza-Loving Nerd' Image". News.sky.com. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
  33. ↑ Gardiner, Beth (2013-03-07). "Computer Coding: It's Not Just for Boys". The New York Times.
  34. ↑ "Welcome to Forbes". Forbes.com. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
  35. ↑ Wakefield, Jane (2013-03-08). "BBC News - Will the next Zuckerberg be female?". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
  36. ↑ "Interview: The £25 computer which is teaching British children to code - Yahoo News UK". Uk.news.yahoo.com. 2013-03-08. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
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