Being part of the Microsoft Academic Team means that we get to meet and mingle with some of the brightest and most talented student developers and young technology enthusiasts from across not only the UK but also from across the world. This was really brought home to me after we lauched the Microsoft Student Partner programme 2004 on Monday.

So what’s the MSP programme all about? Well it’s an annual award that recognises outstanding students studying computer science at universities in the UK and Ireland for their contribution to the academic community. Students are nominated by their lecturers, former MSPs or by Microsoft. 60 students from over 30 different universities have been accepted into the 2004 programme and they all came together for the inaugural meeting (and social evening) earlier in the week at Microsoft HQ in Reading and the vibe was just amazing.

However once they had all left I was left puzzling, why are there so few women studying computing science and entering the IT industry and why I am I continually reminded that I left university a life time ago?