ALD News: Ada Lovelace short film, IWD @ The Ri, Work180 and Tech Talent Charter reports
Plus welcome back to four of our sponsors, Fieldwork update, Ada Lovelace house for sale, and much more!
Hi there,
Spring has officially sprung here in the UK, although no one seems to have told the weather. However, we’ve lots of news to share, so we’ll just dive right in:
Welcome back to…
We’re delighted to welcome back Digital Science for their eleventh year as a sponsor, along with Arden University, Ada Infrastructure and Redgate for their second years as sponsors. Plus, we’ll be returning to The Royal Institution for the fourth time to celebrate Ada Lovelace Day Live 2024 on the evening of Tuesday 8 October.
Here’s a little info about our lovely sponsors:
Digital Science is a technology company serving the needs of scientific research, offering a range of scientific technology and content solutions that help make scientific research more efficient.
Arden University offers a combination of distance and blended learning degree courses to students in the UK and globally.
Ada Infrastructure is a global data centre business committed to being a positive force for technology, people, and the planet.
Redgate is the leading provider of software solutions for Compliant Database DevOps.
You can read a lot more about them on our website and if you’d like to join them as a sponsor you can also download our prospectus – just fill in the form on that page and you’ll get the download link by return. We need another three sponsors at silver level to reach our target for this year, so please do get in touch if you’re interested!
i-COMET: Fieldwork short film script update
Suw has been beavering away on Fieldwork, the short film script about ecologists working in the field that’s the final part of the i-COMET research project. In her most recent post, she shares her progress, including a look at the three books she’s read, the writing exercises she’s done, some thoughts on character development, and a quick look at Plottr, a tool for authors.
Follow Ada Lovelace Day on LinkedIn
Twitter has always been our main social media platform, but as activity tails away there, we’re focusing our efforts more on LinkedIn, BlueSky and our blog. If you’re on either LinkedIn or Bluesky, please do follow us, say ‘Hi!’, and share our posts with your community. We rely on word of mouth to build our audience, so every share is important!
Royal Institution celebrate International Women’s Day
Last week was International Women’s Day, and our venue partner, The Royal Institution, has published a set of resources, including all the talks from Ada Lovelace Day 2023, to celebrate. The Ri has a long and illustrious history of supporting women in STEM:
The Ri has opened its doors to women since its beginnings and continues to champion their contribution to science throughout all our activities. The first talk given by a woman was all the way back in 1923, when British archaeologist Joan Evans gave a Discourse titled "Jewels of the Renaissance".
The Ri are also featuring a talk from Dame Athene Donald about why we need more women in STEM, as well as highlight from the Ri Science Podcast.
Ada Infrastructure’s spotlight on women in STEM
ALD sponsor Ada Infrastructure has launched a series of posts on LinkedIn dedicated to highlighting women in STEM. First in their spotlight is mathematician Gladys West, whose work on the Seasat project built the foundations for today’s GPS. Follow Ada Infrastructure on LinkedIn for more!
New Ada Lovelace short film
A new short film about Ada Lovelace, written, directed by and stars Julie Bruns, has been released and is available to rent or buy from Reel Women’s Network.
Dying of cancer and facing down early Victorian sexism, brilliant mathematician Ada Byron Lovelace makes one last desperate gamble to raise the funds needed to complete her life’s goal - to build the world's first computer.
You can also follow the project on Twitter.
House where Ada Lovelace born up for sale
If you have £30 million spare, you might want to consider buying the house where Ada Lovelace was born in Piccadilly. It is a bit of a fixer-upper, though, so you might need a few extra million to spend on repairs and refurbishment.
139 Piccadilly is a Grade II listed building arranged over six floors, dating back to the mid-18th century. This grand, former townhouse offers over 14,000 sq ft of accommodation and showcases a smart period façade, beautifully preserved original features throughout, and far-reaching views over Green Park.
Previously 13 Piccadilly Terrace, Ada lived there for just a month, before her mother fled an increasingly erratic Lord Byron to take Ada to safety at her parents’ house. The authors of Old and New London: Volume 4, (pub 1878) Walter Thornbury and Edward Walford had this to say:
Of the two houses above mentioned, that numbered 139 maintained its celebrity by being at one time the residence of Lord Byron. Here he was living when the separation between himself and Lady Byron took place a year after their illstarred marriage; and here he wrote "Parisina" and the "Siege of Corinth." It was also from this house that Lady Byron left the poet, carrying with her his infant child, whom he commemorates so touchingly as "Ada, sole daughter of my house and heart."
Although being men of their era, they have little pleasant to say about Lady Byron.
Work180 What Women Want report
Former ALD sponsor Work180 have released their What Women Want report, a “survey of 769 women, allies, and marginalized individuals in Australia, the UK and the US”. Amongst their findings are:
Almost two-thirds (62%) of women are open to new opportunities:
27% are “actively” looking for a new role.
Year-on-year, more women are looking to ‘level up’.
Flexible working has regained its position as the most in-demand policy. In fact, 75% of respondents said they value flexible working above a competitive salary.
Candidates are concerned about employers’ gender pay gaps:
86% (+5% YoY) want to know what potential employers are doing to reduce and remove their gender pay gap.
55% say they would still apply to a company with a poor pay gap if the company can prove its commitment to closing it.
Tech Talent Charter Diversity in Tech report
Tech Talent Charter’s annual survey of over 700 UK Signatory organisations has just been released, and examines “the latest diversity and inclusion practices”, highlighting “where inequalities require dire and urgent action.” Unfortunately, things are not looking good:
Diversity and inclusion in tech is facing a defunding crisis. Three years ago, companies were staunchly pledging to improve equality, posting black squares on their social media and proclaiming their action plans for improving D&I. Fast-forward to today and the message is very different.
D&I strategies are becoming increasingly insular, initiatives are being shelved to prioritise other business goals, and more and more we hear that ‘D&I isn’t relevant because my company isn’t hiring’. Alongside this are countless stories from D&I role-holders and advocates who are battling for support from senior leaders as their teams are decimated, their processes eliminated by mergers and acquisitions or being forced to step back from voluntary efforts due to changing business attitudes and overburdened desks.
Here at Ada Lovelace Day, we can attest to the depth of the funding crisis, having nearly had to shut down in 2023 and, despite coverage by the BBC, still finding it a challenge to raise enough money for the long term. If you can, please encourage your company to sponsor us!
Around the web
Here is our round up of links and reading that we’ve found this month!
Ada Lovelace featured: For International Women’s Day, Ada Lovelace is included in a free art exhibit, GLOW: Illuminating Innovation, newly launched by University of Nottingham and King’s College, London. Ada also is a focus in Herstory, an exhibition that highlights both the struggles and triumphs women in history have faced.
Women of colour: Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock is interviewed by The Irish News about her work encouraging girls into STEM. Assistant professor and engineer Janille Smith-Colin writes for Times Higher Education about how to empower girls and women in engineering.
Overlooked women: Age UK talks about the importance of recognising older role models. Lucy Moore has written 532 wikipedia entries on women in history, including women from around the world.
News: MIT has launched a new exhibition, Under the Lens: Women Biologists and Chemists at MIT 1865-2024, featuring women in STEM from MIT – there is also a digital exhibit for those not able to visit in person. Mirjam Fines-Neuschild, Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo & Jean-François Arguin write for Communication Physics about what they have learned from their work on Parité sciences, a project to encourage diversity in science.
International Women's Day: The Indian women scientists who worked on the Chandrayaan-3 moon mission were honoured for International Women’s Day. And The Hindu talks about forgotten Indian women of science (and includes several book recommendations!). Associate Professor Georgina Such and Dr Jieqiong Lou speak to Pursuit about mentoring, diversity and the challenges faced by women in science. Silicon Republic has put together a list of 30 inspiring women in STEM working across fields like tech, sustainability and health. Shadow Science minister (and ALD alumna) Chi Onwurah visited Peterborough College as part of an International Women’s Day celebration to encourage girls into STEM. Oxford Population Health speaks to women involved with the Million Women Study, which investigates women’s risk of disease from a variety of causes.
That’s it for this month! Please share this newsletter with friends and colleagues who’d appreciate it, and follow our page on LinkedIn and our account on BlueSky to help us rebuild our community off Twitter!
All the best,
Suw & the ALD team