Wackathon: supporting Diversity & Equality

The 12^th – 13^th March 2002 sees the 3rd annual Wackathon, a 24hr virtual hackathon for Women and Gender Minorities, hosted at The University of Bath. A portmanteau of women’s hacking marathon, the Wackathon is a design, sprint-like event specifically for women and gender minorities. In teams of up to 4, students compete to design the best technical system to solve a chosen problem in just 24 hours against others from universities across the UK.

Being a Woman or Gender Minority in technology is not always easy. With so few around, the student organisers have designed an event to meet the other brilliant and powerful members of their community. It’s a safe, encouraging and invested space which aims to be a learning launchpad and a platform to showcase their skills.

BMT’s very own Kirsty Carotti, now a software developer for the company, is a founding member of the Wackathon event at The University of Bath, and it’s an important topic for her.

“Women in Technology has always been a movement close to my heart; in a male dominated field it is often hard to find the confidence to showcase the skills and talent so many women have. When founding the Wackathon, myself and my fellow committee members wanted to create a safe space to develop both technical and soft-skills and give women the confidence to pursue similar events or a job in technology in the future. I'm so happy to be able to continue to support this initiative with the help of BMT.”

With support from industry partners, the Wackathon also provides an opportunity for participants to network and broaden professional contacts. Diversity, equality, and inclusion are critical to BMT. Our passion and goal are to build more diverse teams and to create an environment where employees are engaged, thriving and feel a sense of belonging. Amongst its other campaigns, for International Women’s Day 2022 and Prism, BMT's Network for LGBTQ+ colleagues and their Allies, by supporting Wackathon 2022, BMT hopes to encourage more diversity and equality in STEM.