In this conversation I connected with Dr Sue Black who is now a Prof of Computer Science at Durham. She is perhaps best known for her instrumental role in helping to save Bletchley Park, the once the top-secret home of the World War Two Codebreakers, including Alan Turing and 1,000’s others, half of whom were women, that allegedly shortened WW2 by 2-3 years and saved over 20 million lives.
With bright red hair and relentless enthusiasm, she is a tireless campaigner for the role tech can play in creating positive social change - in particular for women and mums in the tech sector. She left school at 16, was in women’s refuge at 25 with 3 small children, went back to education at 26 got degree in computing in 1993, and PhD in software engineering in 2001 and is now one of the most influential people in computer science in the UK and even appeared on the legendary BBC radio programme Desert Island Discs earlier this year too!
So I started out by asking her about social mobility through education and asked "are you the exception that proves the rule"?
https://sueblack.co.uk/
https://bletchleypark.org.uk/
https://techupwomen.org/
https://cruciblealumni.com/crucibleirl/
https://techmums.co/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b3b4m5
https://www.weareliminal.co