The original idea for the workshop stemmed from Deloitte’s “One Million Futures” programme. Working together, Deloitte and Ada developed an innovative idea designed to help achieve an organisation’s goals. In our case, the goal was to increase the number of students, particularly young women and those from low-income backgrounds, pursuing a career in technology. And the innovative idea? An app created by Deloitte to spark interest in technology careers and illustrate some basic technology concepts.

The George Mitchell students were the first to try out the app. Alongside myself and Venus (a Deloitte consultant), they worked through a series of interactive puzzles related to a range of technology careers, from cybersecurity to digital marketing. Importantly, each puzzle demonstrated to the students that they already possess the skills needed for these careers, such as problem-solving, logic and resilience.

Not only this, but we had some fantastic discussions about some contentious topics in technology. In particular, the students had a very lively debate about whether technology companies’ use of personal data was justifiable. Both Venus and I were blown away by the nuanced and well thought-out arguments all the students exhibited.

All in all, the afternoon was a huge success with two thirds (66%) of the students considering a career in technology after the workshop finished compared to at the start. We can’t wait to run more workshops, so if you’d be interested in holding one at your school please contact me at jonathan@ada.ac.uk!