This year, the number of women choosing to study Computer Science education at the University of Copenhagen has risen to completely new heights. From 7% to 18% in only two years. This fills us with joy because it is aligned with our efforts in FemTech.dk. But… Why is this an important piece of news? Nowadays, and more than ever, digital technologies play an important role in society. Statistics show that digital technologies are used by many but are developed by a few. This becomes especially relevant when looking at the number of women who participate in developing digital technologies.

What are the issues related to this lack of diversity? A crucial issue is that it can limit what it is taken into consideration and what it is left out, therefore potentially constraining people rather than enabling them. Companies are increasingly eager to bring in people with different backgrounds, experiences, and knowledge in developing digital technologies  –  this entails that there is indeed a diverse pool of people with the required skills and knowledge (which opens up the discussion of what are these “required” skills, we will leave this for another post). Engaging in activities that display different representations of computing, potentially increasing the interest of women (and not only) in computer science is one step towards broadening participation in technology development, and FemTech.dk and DIKU are taking this step forward.

You can read more about it on DIKU’s website (in Danish)