According to the most recent figures from the Scottish Qualifications Authority, girls only accounted for around a fifth of all students attempting Computing Studies at National 5 and Higher Levels. Girls are also much less likely to choose subjects such as Music Technology and Engineering Science.
Between 29th September and 10th October more than 20 in-person and online tech-focused events, workshops and activities aimed at girls, young women and non-binary people from primary school through to university. The events are delivered in partnership with organisations from across the public, private and charity sectors.
The festival is named after the 19th-century English mathematician Ada Lovelace, who is recognised as a key pioneer of the concept of general-purpose computing. It is supported by Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and the People’s Postcode Lottery.
This year’s festival is expanding further across Scotland than ever before, with events for high schoolers set to be held at universities in Dundee, Edinburgh, Inverness and Aberdeen.
More broadly, the festival will offer a series of opportunities for young people to gain hands-on experience of a range of potential careers, with events covering coding, game development, robotics, and cybersecurity.
A two-day Game Jam event in Edinburgh on Thursday 2nd October and Friday 3rd October will give university-age attendees the opportunity to make their own games at the offices of tech startup incubator CodeBase.
The festival will also host events showcasing career opportunities in tech, with experts from industry sharing their experiences and offering advice on starting out in the sector. In Glasgow on Monday 6th October, a ‘Cyber Heist’ event with experts from Morgan Stanley will help showcase careers in cybersecurity.
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Teachers will also have the opportunity to expand their own knowledge of the sector with continuing professional development events, including a showcase of graphics technology with the Raspberry Pi Foundation on Tuesday 7th October.
Dr Matthew Barr of the University of Glasgow’s School of Computing Science is one of the founders of the festival and serves as its director. He said: “Encouraging girls, women and non-binary people to achieve their full potential in computing isn’t just about helping to them find rewarding careers, although that is obviously very important.
“It’s also about injecting Scotland’s tech sector with new talent that sees the world in different ways, which has been proven to help spark innovation. The products and software we all use daily will be better when diverse voices are involved in creating them.
“Scotland has bold ambitions to be a digital leader in the years ahead. Working today to build the more gender-balanced workforce of tomorrow will give us a selling point on the world stage. That’s what we’re aiming to achieve with the Ada Scotland Festival, and we’re delighted to be bringing events to more places across the country than ever before.”
Fiona Sabba of Barrhead High School said: “Barrhead High School students had a fantastic opportunity to attend the Ada Scotland Festival in 2024. Thanks to the support of the ada.scot charity, our learners were able to visit an exceptional tech workplace, gaining firsthand insight into how a tech business operates. They also had the chance to engage with industry speakers during Q&A sessions, learning about various career opportunities. The interactive workshops were particularly enjoyable, and as a result of this experience, almost all of our students are now considering careers in the tech field.”
The Ada Scotland festival is sponsored by Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and the People’s Postcode Lottery. The festival’s partners For more information on the 2025 Ada Scotland Festival, visit https://ada.scot
The full calendar of events can be viewed at ada.scot/calendar