Celebrating and amplifying Black voices in computer science

Data from the UK Higher Education Statistics Agency reveals that Black professors comprise less than 1% of the academic workforce. The percentage is even smaller when considering Black people at executive level in FTSE 100 companies. The UCL Computer Science Black History Month event explored how to achieve fairer representation in business and academia.  

The event in October 2024 drew on the year’s Black History Month theme: reclaiming narratives. Black computer scientists took the stage to tell their stories and those of other leading Black figures to a room of UCL staff, students and guests. The event was also live-streamed.  

Sharing inspiring stories

Dr Temitayo (Temi) Olugbade gave the keynote speech. Temi is a lecturer in Computer Science and AI at the University of Sussex and an Honorary Research Fellow at UCL. Temi focused on two narratives she knows well. The first belongs to Kola Tubosun, a linguist and writer known for his efforts to preserve Nigerian languages and culture. Kola established the Yoruba Names Project, an online database to which Temi contributed. 

The second relates to Dr Joy Egede of the Computer Vision Lab at the University of Nottingham. Like Temi’s, Joy’s research is in affective computing. Not only has Joy broken new ground in the field, but she has championed inclusive research by collecting datasets from Nigerian participants.

Reclaiming narratives

The panel’s wide-ranging discussion included self-identity, the need for more Black representation in leadership roles, and how non-Black people can be active allies for Black individuals. 

The panellists were:

• Daniel Grant, engineering manager at YouView TV
• Hope Oloye, founder of the social enterprise Thinking Black
• Lucky Onwuzurike, cybersecurity manager at the World Association of Nuclear Operators 
• Morgane Ohlig, UCL Computer Science MEng student
• Shakirah Akinwale, centre director at the UCL Centre for Sustainability and RealTech Innovation.

The chair was Morenike Magbagbeola, a UCL postgraduate researcher and robot engineer at an energy company.

The first discussion point was: what does reclaiming your narrative mean to you? Lucky explained that reclaiming his narrative means reshaping the perception others have of him. Working as a consultant, he found he had to use his PhD title with clients to counter discrimination. Morgane described the frustration of being judged by her ethnicity. Shakirah suggested listening to the experiences of Black people to understand and address systemic issues.

Shakirah went on to talk about tokenism and the added pressures of being the only Black person in certain settings. Daniel spoke about being made to feel out of place in a predominantly white environment. He also emphasised the importance of representation, particularly in senior roles and shared how he teaches his children about Black role models. The panel agreed on the need to uncover lost narratives and amplify positive stories of Black individuals.

Another key theme was identity. Lucky and Shakirah discussed being comfortable with your identity and speaking proudly about your achievements. Hope emphasised the importance of unlearning stereotypes and being critical of the images and stories fed to, and about, the Black community.

The conversation then shifted to education. Hope said we must diversify the curriculum to accurately reflect the contributions of Black figures. We also need inclusive research methods that involve the Black community at all levels. Morgane highlighted the value of support systems for Black students at university. She shared how she was drawn to London and UCL to be in a more diverse environment. 

The panellists spoke of the power of mentorship and sponsorship, and how people can advocate for Black people to create a better culture for all.

Taking action on underrepresentation

Professor Daniel Alexander, Head of UCL Computer Science, underscored the department’s commitment to increasing Black representation in computer science and called on other organisations to get involved.

Professor Alexander said: “We recognise that the Black community is heavily underrepresented. We reach out to schools to inspire grassroots interest. We also run the Aspire scholarship scheme, where we pay for students from the Black community to study computer science at UCL. We have nine of those scholars, three from each year, who are thriving. We hope to expand the scheme but can only do so with the support from external partners.“

Thank you to the speakers, the Race Equality Working Group, the organising team, and the audience for their contributions to the event.