Skirts and Ladders 'Computing is too important to be left to men' — Karen Spärck Jones

“Science is becoming more pervasive and invasive than it has ever been before.” – Baroness Greenfield

Professor Wendy Hall is making the most of her moment in the sun. The fact that she’s been made a dame has been covered widely, no doubt partially thanks to the large women in technology network Twittering away, emailing contacts, and making sure the media knows. The Guardian has a few words on her reaction, in which she succinctly states how she plans to use this status: to encourage more young people to go into computer science.

A lot of the time, I get sidetracked and focus on the issue of women in technology – namely, the fact that there aren’t enough. But the truth is that the number of students applying to do Computer Science courses nationwide are dropping (apparently except at the University of Southampton, oddly enough, where Prof Hall teaches). At Cambridge in 2000, 499 students applied and 88 were admitted (71 men, 17 women). In 2007, 231 applied and 71 were admitted (64 men, 7 women).

(You can see why I'm concerned about women. That's a 54% decrease in applications overall, but only a 10% decrease in the number of men admitted, compared to the 59% decrease in the number of women.)

But back to the problem: it’s all about getting children, boys and girls alike, excited about computing at a younger age.

The Royal Institution (RI), an independent charity founded in 1799 designed to connect people with science, started delivering their famous Christmas lectures for children in 1825. Lectures have been delivered by luminaries such as Michael Faraday who initiated them in the first place, Carl Sagan and Baroness Susan Greenfield. This year’s lectures were around the theme of building the ultimate computer, presented by Professor Chris Bishop.

The best thing about them is that they’re accessible. Children and adults can listen alike and understand what’s being said, and more importantly, become enthused. The RI is an academic institution as well, and much groundbreaking research has been conducted there. However, as every university student knows, lecturers don’t always make the best teachers and this is where the RI lectures soar above the rest: these are the best teachers you’ll find.

The lectures can be accessed online, for anyone interested, and Prof Bishop speaks about the lectures (and his shock at how small the Faraday lecture theatre actually is) in the Guardian’s Science Weekly podcast.

Apart from the huge success of the Christmas lectures, the other thing that I like about the RI is that the current director is Baroness Greenfield. In 1994, she was invited to be the first woman to deliver the Christmas lectures, and four short years later she became the first female director of the RI – and only the fifth director to date.

"My dream for the Royal Institution is that people should go to it like they go to a cinema or concert or play. I want people to leave there after an event excited, frightened, worried, inspired, involved, and above all disagreeing with each other, like you would after a good play. Because once we have science talked about -and people thinking about it and in a sense owning it - then we have a chance." – Baroness Greenfield

I was fortunate enough to attend a talk she gave to the womenintechnology network, titled Banana skins, bottlenecks and elephant traps: the perilous journey for women in technology. She lives up to every description, witty and clever and talking a million miles a minute, irreverently poking fun at us and herself. After all, how often is one in a room full of 200 female scientists and technologists with only the odd man dotted about?

The thing that I like best about her is that she refuses to sacrifice her own individuality, including her femininity, while walking down the scientific path. She’s neither a single woman who refuses to have a life in favour of being an academic, nor is she married with 2.4 children. The media lambasts her for everything from wearing miniskirts to getting divorced, but she keeps on going, and more importantly telling people, so that we all keep on going too. According to her, the most important thing you can find yourself is a mentor, and if you’re not sure who that person should be, use this as a rule of thumb: "Someone who believes in you more than you believe in yourself."