Posted: 15th February 2017

On 13 February we welcomed 16 year 7 girls, and their mums to the department for our first ‘InspireHer!’ event.

InspireHer! aims to increase girls interest and curiosity in Computer Science by introducing coding in a fun and interactive way. On the day girls, their mums (and one brave Dad) got stuck in to an exciting range of activities and challenges: an introduction to Sphero SPRK+ programming, learning to program a Sphero robot, and visits to Oxford colleges, Somerville and St Anne’s. 

We hope to inspire more girls to get into STEM subjects, by:

• Making parents aware of the need to motivate their daughters to pursue a career in technology.
• Providing resources and advice to parents on how to nourish their daughter's curiosity and interest in Computer Science.
• Encouraging parent and daughter collaboration in coding projects to provide a relatable role model.

Everyone had a lot of fun and one Mum Tweeted ‘Making Sphero dance to #TaylorSwift what a fab way to start half term break #InspireHer’.

InspireHer! was supported by Google and the University of Oxford's Department of Computer Science, with Bushra Alahmadi and fellow members of the OxWocs (Oxford Women in Computer Science) society.