Computer Science Journeys: Charlotte

Hello! Please could you introduce yourself?

My name is Charlotte Godley, I'm a software consultant. I run my own business and typically shift around clients every few months, building everything from data pipelines through to mobile apps for all sorts of companies. Some of the big names I've worked for include Ocado, Airbus and Lloyd's Pharmacy, and some of my recent clients have included National Grid and currently HM Land registry.

How did you get into computer science?

As a kid, I was really into a website called neopets.com. It was just a bunch of kids playing with virtual pets on flash games, but there was a social element to it in that there were chatrooms, and you had your own profile and pet profiles you could customise using HTML, CSS, and some limited JavaScript.

It was pretty much all teenage girls and there was a lot of prestige to being good at CSS and design. As time went on people built more and more complicated "off-neo" websites for their chatrooms, so around age 16 I decided I wanted to learn PHP, which is a programming language, to build my own. I exchanged my mum's purchase of a PHP book for committing to A-level computing, and the rest is history!

What was your experience at school? Did you get encouragement from your teachers or peers to study computing?

I was quite lucky in that my school offered A-level computing - it's hopefully changed now but with the low uptake, many sixth forms just didn't offer it at all. We had two good computing teachers, one of whom had a Computer Science degree.

It was mostly my mum pushing but I think the school had noticed from my work that this was likely where I was headed. At GCSE, instead of building a website using PowerPoint, I wrote pure HTML. After about a week in AS Computing where I was "bossin' it", my teacher took me aside just to tell me that I was doing well and that she was very impressed with me.

Were there any difficulties or barriers that you faced going through school and college?

Though I honestly didn't have any problems at school, I know people who went to all-girls schools and had to go to the boys’ school to do computing. I also had fellow A-level students who, when I said, "I'm doing XYZ and computing", would respond "Isn't that for boys?". However, this was genuinely the first point at which I thought anything about gender in computer science.

Applying to university was a bit tougher - I hadn't known up until applying that due to so few schools offering computing at the time, many universities required Maths A level in its place and therefore there were fewer places I could apply for. Looking back, I don't feel Maths A level is totally necessary to be a good software engineer, nor do I think I would have enjoyed studying it!

University was a bit more of a struggle because the ratio was so skewed - I think when my year started there were 9 women (dropping to 6 by the end of the first year) and over 200 men. I was lucky enough to make a good group of friends early on and to eventually have something of a rapport with a few more of the men, but that was at times an intimidating environment to get through.

What is a stereotype in computer science that you would like to see broken down?

Personally, my other subjects at A level were Music, Spanish, and English Literature. I think I'm good at software engineering because I love linguistics and that makes it easy to pick up new tools and new languages. A lot of the other students around me at the time did all STEM-related subjects, and much as computing is a form of applied maths, if you're only coming at it from that angle and not from a holistic desire to solve problems, you're not going to be as successful as you could be.

The harder problems in software engineering are about communication. You need to be able to explain to people what your idea is or why they should go with a particular approach, you need to onboard people with less experience and be able to tailor your communication for non-technical stakeholders. Being the "best" at a programming language will only get you so far.

What achievement are you most proud of so far?

Having the confidence to make big career decisions and know my value. I've left jobs when I've found there's no more to learn, negotiated higher rates and salaries, and tried to pick new opportunities based on broadening my horizons. That's left me in a position where I can confidently do anything that's required of me and weather the storm when some areas of technology are doing better than others.

Do you have any advice for students who want to go into computer science?

Get used to teaching yourself new languages, tools, and paradigms, and pick up as many different ones as you can while in education. Technology shifts at a crazy rate and you have to get used to that. Being a good engineer is more about how to learn than it is about knowing the right answer all the time!

Thanks, Charlotte!