Celebration of world’s first programmer enlightens need to focus more on gender equality in tech-industry
Ada Lovelace is considered by many to be the world’s first programmer. Today, 200 years after she lived, the proportion of women among programmers is only 15 percent. Who was Ada and how can we get more women into technology jobs?
We surround ourselves with technology. No matter what we are doing, there is technology behind it. Whether we’re going to call, shop, pay, travel, visit the doctor, and so on. We even get notifications to breathe and get up from apps.
Still, only a third of those working with technology or in tech-companies are women. And the share of women who develop these solutions are even lower. And that’s despite the fact that Ada Lovelace is reconned to be the world’s first programmer.
Who was Ada Lovelace?
Lady Augusta Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace, her full name, was born in England on December 10, 1815, and died on November 27, 1852.
In the Great Norwegian Encyclopedia, we read that Ada (mathematician and data processing pioneer) “wrote machine instructions for Charles Babbage’s The Analytical Engine, a mechanical computer. This machine was never completed, but the instructions she wrote mean that she is recognized by many as the first data programmer in history”.
The programming language Ada is named after her.
Lovelace and Babbage tried to design a mechanical computer. The principles for the logical structure of the machine correspond to much of what is the basis for today’s electronic computers and Lovelace worked primarily with principles for programming.
The yearly Ada Lovelace day
Today, a little over 200 years since Ada and Charles worked together on the Analytical Engine, there is far from gender balance in the field of technology, even in otherwise equal Nordic countries. Due to several statistics, only 26 to 30 percent of computing jobs globally are held by women despite the irony that the industry was invented by a woman.
Ada’s story demonstrates that analytical ability is not determined by gender. It’s her genius that paved the way for how computing works to this day. That means that we have to take a hard look at the true causes of this gap across the entire industry.
Journalist Suw Charman-Anderson is one of many concerned about females' position in the tech-industry and in special that females in the tech world were invisible. Therefore, back in 2009, Charman-Anderson created the Ada Lovelace Day, which is held every second Tuesday in October.
Today Ada Lovelace Day is a worldwide celebration of the achievements that women have made in STEM industries, which stands for science, technology, engineering, and maths. The day is about increasing the profile of females in STEM. The hope is that by doing this we will help to create new role models for women all across the globe! This will help to encourage more females to take roles within STEM sectors.
In 2018 The Ada Lovelace Institute was established by the Nuffield Foundation, in collaboration with the Alan Turing Institute, the Royal Society, the British Academy, the Royal Statistical Society, the Wellcome Trust, Luminate, techUK and the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. The mission of the Ada Lovelace Institute is to ensure that data and AI work for people and society.
Diversity provides growth
Cegal has for several years had double-digit revenue growth and annual sales of several hundred million NOK.
“A high proportion of women and a diverse workforce is an important reason why Cegal has had strong growth and success in the market," says Cegal CEO Dagfinn Ringås and he continues:
“We wouldn’t have achieved this growth without our skilled and knowledgeable technological superheroes. And without diversity, we won’t get hold of these superheroes. Success comes, among other things, from what I call a golden diversity mix.”
The Cegal CEO says that the diversity mix involves differences in gender, age, experience, cultural background and personality. It forms the basis of a dynamic way of working that is positive and creates energy. Therefore, Cegal has in the last years worked systematically to increase the proportion of women both among the technologists and in the management.
So far this year, more than 30 per cent of all new hires are women and it is a strategic objective that the company should have a 30 per cent proportion of women overall in 2025. This fall, we are building on this goal by hiring two new women into leadership positions. Marianne Blikø from Kongsberg Digital joined us as product director for the power and renewables industry, and Celise Skaar just started as a new Cegalian and global sustainability lead.
We even have our own internal network to promote gender diversity, inclusion, and equity in our own organization, in tech, and in society as such.
