Lady Geek

I was glad to have been invited by Maggie Berry from WomeninTechnology, an online job board, networking and event group for women working in technology jobs in the UK, to attend the glamorous BlackBerry Women & Technology Awards. This was the third edition of the event celebrating women’s achievement in the field of technology.

Maggie Philbin, who used to be a presenter of Tomorrow’s World, led through the evening and various speakers such as Glenda Stone, Aurora and Charmaine Eggberry, VP and managing director, EMAE for Research in Motion.

The evening started with a reception and then we were asked to sit at the tables for a wonderful meal. The WomeninTechnology table was fabulous with a variety of people ranging from representatives from NBC and the WISE – Women into Science, Engineering and Construction to Suzanne Doyle Morris who offers coaching for female leaders who also authors an interesting blog.

After the dinner the award ceremony started. The winners were

• Best use of technology by a woman within the corporate sector: Jayne Opperman (Lloyds TSB)
• Best use of technology by under 30 year-old woman: Lisa Ditlefsen (Base One)
• Best woman in technology (public sector and academia): Professor Lizbeth Goodman (SMARTlab)
• Best use of technology within the multimedia industry by a woman: Beatriz Alonso-Martinez (Avid Technology Europe)
• Best company advancing women in technology: BT Group
• Best use of technology by a woman in small to medium business: Polly Gowers (Everyclick.com)
• Best female mentor: Kate Bishop (Dell)
• BlackBerry outstanding woman in technology: Professor Lizbeth Goodman (SMARTlab)

What I found particularly interesting was Charmaine Eggberry talking about research commissioned by Research in Motion with girls aged 11 to 16. 90% of these girls described technology as ‘cool’. 38% of the girls talk about the latest technologies daily. However only 28% of girls in contrast to 52% of boys wanted to work in this area. Girls simply saw technology work as too geeky. We know from research on stereotypes that role models have a major impact on perceptions and honouring women of achievement in technology is one way of changing the image of technology and encouraging more girls and women into the area.