I was supervised by Professor Wendy Hall and Dr Su White and, because my research interests were multi-disciplinary, I was lucky to have an advisor from the School of Education: Professor Alison Fuller. My research interests are quite unusual in ECS, but very necessary. My PhD investigated how the perception of technology careers dissuades females from choosing computing courses at higher education. My PhD research continues to be a stepping stone to my overall ambition, which is to empower people (not just women!) to believe that they can contribute to an industry like computing and make a real difference.