During the Second World War, Alan Turing worked for the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, Britain's codebreaking centre that produced Ultra intelligence. For a time, he led Hut 8, the section that was responsible for German naval cryptanalysis. Here, he devised several techniques for speeding the breaking of German ciphers. Turing played a crucial role in cracking intercepted coded messages that enabled the Allies to defeat the Nazis in many crucial engagements, including the Battle of the Atlantic. Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for being a homosexual, the Labouchere Amendment of 1885 had mandated that it was a criminal offence in the UK.
Every year on 23 June, Turing's birthday is celebrated - not only for his significant contribution to the war effort and his groundbreaking IT work, but as a way of promoting diversity in the field. We spoke to three STEM Ambassadors working at DXC Technology to hear more about their roles and why more LGBTQIA+ people should choose careers in IT and STEM.
Katie is a squad lead and infrastructure engineer and is a STEM Ambassador.
What does your role involve?
I have a hybrid role meaning half of my time is spent doing technical work (decommissioning servers) and half is spent managing the workload of a squad of engineers and technical architects. The squad members all have different areas of expertise (i.e. wintel, storage and backup and unix) and collaborate on most projects.
Why is your area of STEM important?
My area of STEM allows our clients to do the work the need to do. We work with project managers to provide technical solutions to deliver the product required by the client.
How does your job link to IT?
The collaborative role of my team is to do the technical work on a lot of projects when our support is needed. We work with and build virtual machines and servers as well as providing storage solutions.
Why should more LGBTQIA+ people choose STEM/IT careers?
The STEM/IT industry is not representative of the general population. Many groups are underrepresented and LGBTQIA+ people are one of those groups. If there were no blockers for people wanting to get into STEM careers the percentage of LGBTQIA+ people in these jobs would represent the whole population, therefore we know that there are talented people whose ideas just aren’t heard. If we don’t change, we aren’t going to see the incredible breakthroughs and discoveries that we are capable of.
David is an early careers people manager and is a STEM Ambassador.
What does your role involve?
I manage the graduates and apprentices on the early careers programme and my role is to support, lead and motivate my team. I also focus on their individual career development and goals throughout their scheme, provide coaching, access to training resources, informal mentoring and performance feedback to ensure rapid personal development and achievement of their potential.
Why is your area of STEM important?
It is important to support the next generation of talent by encouraging early careers into technology and building a diverse pool of talent for the future success of DXC, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.
The Early Careers programme provides a common platform and structured environment that is both supportive and inclusive for all, to provide early career talent with the necessary skills to have a successful career in IT. It is important to note that working for a technology company does not mean you need to be technical, as we also have roles that are business or project orientated.
How does your job link to IT?
I manage employees within a technology company and we have a variety of roles within the IT sector, including Programming, DevOps, Project Management, Business Analysis and ADL. I support graduates and apprentices in their learning and development journey following their chosen career path within IT.
Why should more LGBTQIA+ people choose STEM/IT careers?
I really encourage anyone to pursue a career in IT, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, as that does not impact their potential to succeed in a career within IT. DXC in particular have created an inclusive environment that is embedded in our culture, where everyone can feel safe and we encourage a diverse and inclusive workforce that has a zero tolerance policy against discrimination. Inclusive and diverse teams are better teams as they stimulate creativity and innovation and people perform better when they can be themselves.
Anji is a project management officer and is a STEM Ambassador.
What do you do as a PMO?
I work with the project managers to ensure projects meet their targets and are delivered on time and within scope. I do this by ensuring the projects are run correctly based on the company standards and using the correct project management processes.
Why is your area of STEM important?
IT is very important as society becomes more and more reliant on virtual systems and computers. It is important to consider how data is stored such as medical records or banking systems. This is all created and managed by companies such as DXC.
How does your job link to IT?
My role helps to ensure correct procedures are followed to enable the technical engineers to work effectively and efficiently. My role also ensures there are clear audit trails from a legal perspective.
Why should more LGBTQIA+ people choose STEM/IT careers?
The more diversity in the tech industry the better. Currently tech is an industry made up of predominantly white males in the UK. LGBTQIA+ people have different experiences and views of the world which is vital to the future of tech. Research shows that the more diverse a company is the better it performs and the more profits it makes. Research has also shown that tech is only as diverse as the people creating it, so more diversity is needed to reflect the realities of life.
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