Equalities @ EECS

Dr. Gokop Goteng, Senior Lecturer at EECS

For this month’s Staff Spotlight, we spoke to Dr. Gokop Goteng, Senior Lecturer at EECS. He told us about his greatest achievement, what he would choose to have if he were stranded on a desert island, and his involvement on the School’s Equalities Committee.

Can you tell us about your current role and about joining Queen Mary?

I am a Senior Lecturer in IoT and Cloud Computing and I teach in the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) Joint Programme (JP) between QMUL and Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT) in Beijing, China.  I teach cloud computing, software engineering and middleware modules and I am the module organiser for the cloud computing and JP Summer School modules. I joined Queen Mary in September 2014.

Why did you pursue your chosen career?

I have pursued a career in academia as it gives me the opportunity to constantly improve on my knowledge and skills and then impart that to my students. Academia gives you the flexibility and freedom to work with researchers and collaborate with the industry.

Who or what inspired your interest in your area of research?

I was inspired to pursue research in the areas of cloud computing and Internet of Things (IoT) after doing my MSc thesis in grid computing. My MSc supervisor encouraged me to do a PhD in grid computing, which enabled me to understand the concept of providing computing resources as services on-demand basis, just as utility companies provide electricity and water as services to customers and be charged only for the amount you have used. Today, grid computing has metamorphosed into what we called cloud computing, in which IT resources are provided via the internet as services without the need to build your own datacentres.

What’s the best thing about your job?

The best thing about my job as a lecturer at Queen Mary is the freedom given to academics to initiate ideas and collaborate with the industry and other researchers to improve learning experience for our students and community.

What is your greatest career or non-career achievement?

My greatest career achievement is winning the first UK Grid Computing competition during my PhD which was organised by the British Computer Society and sponsored by Microsoft and Intel. Part of the prize is to attend the European Microsoft Innovation Conference in Brussel, where I met Bill Gates at the conference.

What are your hobbies outside of work?

I listen to country music and do some exercise outside of work.

If you were stuck on a desert island, what song, book and luxury item would you chose?

I would choose and sing the “Amazing Grace” song by John Newton (1725–1807) if I were stuck on a desert island.

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?

The homeless in our society.

Can you tell us about your involvement with the EECS Equalities Committee, and what you hope you get out of this?

I was highly honoured and humbled when my colleague, and committee co-chair, Mustafa, invited me to join the EECS Equalities Committee, especially when he mentioned that I am the only black academic staff in EECS. I aim to use my skills in cloud computing and data science to contribute to getting quality data and analysing them as a member of the EECS EDI Data Team so that together we can use this data to suggest better ways and policies that will make Queen Mary a better place for everyone to attend their full potentials, regardless of their race, religion, gender, ethnicity and other affiliations. In addition, I would like to see more BAMEs, especially black minorities recruited as academic and professional staff in EECS.

The School’s Equalities Committee recently revised the school’s EDI Action Plan. Here is a summary of key initiatives for 2021/2022.

Staff related initiatives 

Initiatives for staff that the committee aims to develop and implement this year will include establishing an informal caring network for parents in EECS. It is hoped the network will create a more supportive and collegiate environment for all in the school; the committee would welcome suggestions from EECS staff on how the network could be valuable and useful to them so please do get in touch with Michaela McDonald with any thoughts you have on this so that your ideas can be considered in the development stages of this initiative. 

 We also hope to review the staff appraisals process and understand where improvements could be made here with input from a staff focus group. Our ongoing focus will continue to be on increasing the proportion of women that apply for academic positions through monitor the effectiveness of recently implemented, and future measures. Our sights are set on achieving an increase in the number of applications from women from 20% to 25% by Sept 2024.   

Improving the quality of our data 

Some important school level data is not currently captured. Accurate and meaningful data will be essential to inform our Action Plan objective and to support our EDI aims. 

The committee’s data collection projects will include: implementing a system for collecting data for BAME and gender statistics for school and research group speakers, collecting more descriptive data regarding leaving reasons on Exit Interviews, and on working with the central data team to ensure that data is of appropriate granularity, specifically, identification and capture of the reason for PGR withdrawal.  

Improving female student participation at EECS 

 Increasing the participation of women in EECS – both in our student population and our staff body – is a significant strand of the ECO Committee’s work.  

The focus this year will be on implementing targeted student outreach activities such as ‘Girls into Tech’ events and on creating compelling and emotive marketing content showcasing research that has a real and positive impact on society and develop a world-centric narrative around tech, electronic engineering and computer science.  

A review of the language used in communication to students before offer acceptance and ensure that communication with students is run through a gender bias checker will take place, as well as a focus group with young women involved in all our UG programmes to help determine what attracted them to EECS and specifically QMUL so that changes or improvements can be implemented.  

The numbers of female students on our PGR programmes have been declining so we will be looking to understand the reasons behind this trend and develop a set of best inclusive practices for PGR admissions in consultation with CDT managers and students, which will follow similar guidelines as those used for academic posts.  

We are pleased that the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) has been able to add a new role to its management structure with the appointment of Dr. Mahesha Samaratunga as Director of Wellbeing.

The role has been created to help implement a student wellbeing strategy within EECS, focusing on raising awareness of wellbeing and mental health, especially with supporting activities for students, but staff as well. The aim will be to develop a culture within the school that places student and staff welfare at the heart of its operations.

Dr. Samaratunga said,

There is undoubtedly more which can be done to raise awareness and support on the topic of student wellbeing and for it to be better integrated within the culture at EECS. It is my sincere hope that I can use this new role to not only support our students but to have an open dialogue around the subject of wellbeing and mental health.

Dr. Samaratunga will be hosting her first staff wellbeing workshop on 11 November, 11am-1pm.

The workshop aims to raise awareness around mental health and wellbeing and recognise the signs of stress; discuss how to implement positive coping strategies; focus on the importance of time management and direct colleagues to the appropriate support services available.

By the end of this session, delegates will be able to:

· Explore the factors impacting mental health and wellbeing for yourself and others;

· Understand the difference between good and bad coping mechanisms;

· Understand tips for time management;

· Explain the role of our Mental Health First Aiders and the free resources available to all staff.

The Women in Science and Engineering society is holding a free online meeting about pathways to a career in technology. WISE will present their research into the UK tech industry and its implications for skill gaps and workforce imbalances.

https://www.wisecampaign.org.uk/exploring-pathways-into-tech-careers/

Finding Ada is looking for female mentors in STEM from low income backgrounds or who are first in their immediate family to work in STEM. They match mentors and mentees and volunteers can earn free access to their network.
You can read more and apply here:

https://findingada.com/blog/2021/09/01/apply-for-our-new-mentoring-scheme/

The mission of the JP Student Innovation Centre is to create opportunities for students on the JP with BUPT to further develop outside the classrooms and build a community of innovators and makers within the programme. Founded in 2015, the centre had been organising competitions, workshops, courses, talks and projects for hundreds of our students. It also serves as a hub to bring QMUL, BUPT and our industrial partners such as China Mobile, IBM, Juniper together. 

This year, we have launched research projects for 2nd and 3rd students, exposing them to the research environment early on. One of the supervisors, Dr Michaela MacDonald runs a project themed Study on changing online attitudes and practices. A cohort of 7 students, split in two groups, have proposed to pursue two separate projects; one focusing on the gender-based gap in accessibility of online education, the second looking at opportunities and challenges facing the gaming industry.
More information about the centre and some records of our activities can be found in http://www.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/undergraduate/jpic/.

Under the slogan ‘Caring about our Carers’, the EDI Team is running three focus group sessions in September in order to improve understanding of the experience of carers at Queen Mary. The outcomes of the focus groups will feed into the institutional Athena Swan application and frame ongoing actions to support carers. This is a part of a wider strategy to support QM staff with caring responsibilities, especially in the post-pandemic reality. 
The quality, availability, and affordability of childcare in the UK, and the ensuing economic inequality and gender pay gap, have been a growing issue, further exacerbated by the pandemic. A recent study by University College London found that mothers in the UK earn 45% less than their childless counterparts, with childcare costing about 30% of the average wage.

You can find out more about the scheme and volunteer for focus groups here https://www.qmul.ac.uk/doctoralcollege/about-us/blog/items/caring-about-our-carers–focus-groups.html

The UK Parliament will debate the need for an independent review of the childcare sector on the 13th September. 

Mind has released a report about mental health in Universities, particularly in the light of the pandemic. They have produced new research on the subject and aim to work with employers to create a commitment to mental health at work. The report is aimed at HR teams and line managers to support the mental health of their staff. The headline statistics from the report reveal the depth of the problems in academia with 76% of employees surveyed reporting behavioural, psychological or physical symptoms due to work compared with 60% in the general UK population of employees. The guide provides case studies and advice for managers and HR teams. It can be found here:

https://www.mind.org.uk/media/8647/mental-health-at-work-commitment-guidance-for-the-higher-education-sector.pdf

Ada College is devoted to educating and empowering the next generation of diverse digital talent. It encourages women and individuals from low income backgrounds in tech careers. As part of Ada College ‘Futures Week’ an online outreach session has been organised by Dr Paulo Oliva for over 70 Ada students on Monday 28 June 2021. The session focused on Web Programming with particular focus on Web App Security. Demonstrations of several common web attacks was given, with students able to try to those attacks using one of Dr Oliva’s online tool — a mock social network (https://oliva-apps.co.uk/social/) where security measures can be turned on and off. The students had great fun trying to hack each other’s accounts, while learning about what mechanisms one can use to prevent such attacks. One of EECS student ambassadors (Chloe Bugeja) also joined the session and answered some of the Ada students’ questions about studying at EECS and life at University. The session (done via Google Meet) started at 11:50 and lasted for one hour and thirty minutes, closing at 13:30

By Mariya Pavlova, MSc AI student and DeepMind scholar 2020-2021

I had the pleasure to be a panellist at CogX Festival this year alongside UK minister for digital infrastructure. It was a great opportunity to share my views on an important topic that has been on my mind for some time – the shortage of AI skills in the UK, diversity in the industry, creating a responsible AI industry, and most importantly, how the UK government is addressing these.

For those of you who know me, you probably are aware how strongly I feel about these pressing issues and that I never fail to share my candid views on them. CogX was the right platform to do that. After all, the festival has always been about thought leadership and providing a platform for conversations to happen and ideas to spark. It makes me consider again my participation and the conversation I had with the government’s Minister for Digital Infrastructure, Matt Warman, and Institute of Coding Director, Rachid Hourizi. It was not one of those staged events with government officials that you would normally expect. Rather, it was an honest conversation with people who cared about the opinion of someone with first-hand experience. I consider how within the short span of 40 minutes we managed to quickly bond towards a common goal: building a better and more diverse AI industry; how they listened patiently and intently to my story and challenging them to acknowledge society’s fears about AI and the long journey we still have until we unleash the transformative power of AI. I also consider the power of having not just government but also mentor support in creating a more diverse tech industry. Indeed, I was asked about the best part of being a DeepMind scholar. I did not even think twice before answering that it is having a mentor. Because no matter how much experience we have, we never outgrow our ability and need to learn from each other. I was also asked to challenge the believe that AI is techy and male dominated. It reminds me of a painting I recently saw in a Financial Times article.  It was a late 19th-century oil work “The Women’s Life Class” (c1879) by American illustrator Alice Barber Stephens. Her first published work after petitions for women to be allowed to attend life-drawing classes. Something that was considered highly inappropriate for ladies at that time. We do not have to fight any more for a space in which to develop our skills. We still must fight for acceptance though. Indeed, AI is becoming more inclusive, however the glass ceiling and stereotypes are still there. Thus, the government’s initiative Build Back Better has never been more important. Because no matter how much we have “arrived”, there is more to be done. There are positive changes though – just take a look at the increase of female students in the Electronic Engineering and Computer Science department!

My panel discussion also reminds me that help can come from all directions, horizontally as well as vertically, across age gaps and cultures and socio-economic status. The UK AI strategy that is yet to be published aims at just that. After all, AI impacts just about every aspect of our lives and is at the forefront of innovation in almost every major sector. Therefore, it comes with huge responsibility and needs to be shaped by people from different genders and all backgrounds. I passionately believe that if more students from underrepresented groups are supported, the UK has the potential to be a leader in the ethical, safe and trustworthy development of responsible AI.