businessreviewcanada.ca – Women in STEM and the legacy of Ada Lovelace
STEM – science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – has long been a male-dominated sector. Historically, men and women have been steered to focus on different career paths, leaving a gap for female scientists and engineers – which, finally, is set to be increasingly filled.
More and more, programs tailor made for women aiming to enter the industry are being created, and multinational software corporation Autodesk has been vocal about supporting this. This year, on Ada Lovelace Day (which falls on the second Tuesday in October), Autodesk released a dedication to Lovelace which also highlighted the work it is doing to support women in STEM.
Ada Lovelace was an English analyst and metaphysician who is hailed as the founder of scientific computing. She was born in 1815, the product of a brief marriage between Romantic poet Lord Byron and Anna Isabelle Milbanke. Lady Byron raised Lovelace to be tutored in mathematics and science as a stark contrast to the creative leanings of her father (despite him having no influence over Lovelace, as she never knew him). In 1828, at just 13 years old, Lovelace created a design for a flying machine.
