British-born Anne-Marie Imafidon is in a rush to get on with life. Perhaps that is why she passed a GCSE in computer science at age 10, becoming the youngest graduate ever to attain a master’s degree from Oxford University at age 19, and is already planning the future of her unborn children.
And if daughters come along, she is clear that she doesn’t want them to “feel like the odd ones out,” if they decide, like her, to pursue a career in technology, according to a report in the BBC.
As a self-confessed stubborn woman, she hopes she can succeed where others have failed – in reducing the huge gap between girls and boys studying so-called STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and math.
To do this, she has set up “Stemettes,” which she runs when she isn’t at her day job at a global investment bank.
She was one of just three girls in a class of 70 studying maths and computer science at university.
“At the time I wasn’t that bothered, I just thought it was part and parcel of studying computer science,” she says.
“But then last year I spoke at a conference and I heard that the numbers of women in technology was in decline and I thought, ‘That isn’t right.’
“Technology is at the forefront of the economy and women have a vital role to play. When my daughters are born I don’t want them to feel like the odd ones out.”
The Imafidons
Anne-Marie Imafidons is the eldest daughter in what has been dubbed, Britain’s smartest family.
According to BET: “The Imafidons are Britain’s smartest family and have become international models of academic achievement.
Dr. Chris Imafidon and Ann Imafidon came from Edo State, Nigeria, to London over 30 years ago and their children have broken national records in education.
Anne-Marie, 23, the eldest child, is multi-lingual. She speaks six languages and graduated from college at age 10. At 13, she was the youngest person to pass the U.K. A-level computing exam. She went on to attend John Hopkins University in Baltimore and received her master’s degree from Oxford University, all before she turned 20 years old.
In 2009, fraternal twins Peter and Paula Imafidon made headlines for becoming youngest students to enter secondary school at age 6. Their older sister, Christina, was 11 when she was accepted to study at any undergraduate institution in Britain.”
