1m women must be hired in UK tech sector to reach gender parity

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Just 16.8 per cent of people working in the UK tech sector are women

Martha Lane Fox visited Duke's Alridge Academy, as part of the latest Speakers for Schools talk series (Photo: Teri Pengilley for i)

In brief

  • Close to 1m women must be hired for the UK’s tech industry to reach gender parity
  • The UK’s pending exit of the European Union is also a threat to future hiring, a report suggests

Close to 1m women must be recruited to work within the UK technology sector in order to reach gender parity, a new report has claimed.

The UK’s tech industry is facing the dual challenge of hiring workers with much-needed skills and narrowing the gender gap in an overwhelmingly male sector, the report from the Inclusive Tech Alliance (ITA) found.

There are currently around 600,000 unfilled tech job vacancies in the UK, alongside an existing shortfall of 400,000 women. Hiring just under 1m women could help to address the industry’s shortcomings, the group claims.BERLIN, GERMANY - JULY 14: People work at computers in the community space of Factory Berlin on July 14, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. Factory Berlin is a commercial space that has sought to attract tech companies and startups and so far has rented out office space to international brands including Uber and Pinterest as well as local startup SoundCloud. It also maintains the community space, which brings together international software and app developers in a work environment meant to foster common creativity. Berlin has succeeded in drawing young tech talent from across Europe and the world and is now hoping to also woo tech startups from London following the uncertainties created by the Brexit vote. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Women are more critical of their own abilities than their male peers, despite being equally competent, a recent report suggests (Photo: Getty)

Women account for around 16.8 per cent of workers in the UK’s tech sector, with the proportion of women working as IT business analysts, architects and system designers falling to 14.1 per cent, and furhter still to just 12.5 per cent of programmers and software developers, according to data from the Office of National Statistics.

One in three industry workers originate from other European countries, the report observed, highlighting potential difficulties around future hiring once the UK has exited the European Union.

The government estimates around 1.2m new technical and digitally-skilled workers will need to be hired by 2022 to support growth in the sector.

The number of new tech companies registered within the UK has increased by 14 per cent since 2017, with London playing host to 4,752 new annual incorporations in 2018 alone.

Improving flexible working and post-maternity support for mothers returning to work, mentoring programmes and focused careers advice and guidance for young women are all recommendations the ITA has made to encourage and support greater numbers of women to work within the sector.

“We have known for a long time now that there is a pipeline issue when it comes to
encouraging women and girls to consider a career in tech,” said Samuel Kasumu, director of Inclusive Boards, which oversees ITA.

“With the possibility of a post-Brexit skills crisis; now is the time to focus minds and to tackle this challenge head on.”

Source: iNews, Rhiannon Williams 16th April 2019