Women at all stages of their careers will benefit from new government measures announced today aimed at boosting women’s participation in the technology industry.
Women remain grossly underrepresented in the technology industry, and the costs are high. Women leaving the industry costs the economy an estimated £200m to £3.5bn each year. Today’s packaging is designed to change this.
This package includes paid technical placements and support for re-entering the technical workforce after a career break.
Additionally, to encourage more girls to consider a future in technology from an early age, a new TechFirst Girls Competition will be held to thousands across the country later this year.
Secretary of State Liz Kendall explained: “Whether they enter the tech industry, stay in it, or come back after a break to raise a family, women are not given equal opportunities in tech.
“I want to make sure that not only are women entering this field, but that women are shaping this field. Co-creating the future of technology, culture, and an industry that has been built without women for far too long.”
Gender bias in technology still exists
Women leaving the tech industry has a real impact on the technology being built due to the inherent bias built into its design by an unrepresentative workforce, disproportionately impacting women.
AI tools used for recruitment were found to prefer male names nearly five times more than female names, and AI models built to predict liver disease were twice as likely to miss liver disease in women, a study found.
To address these generational challenges, Kendall launched the Women in Tech Taskforce in December.
We bring together the most influential women in the industry to collaborate, with the goal of helping more women enter, advance, stay, and lead in technology.
Unlocking opportunities through small and medium enterprises
The jobs program is supported by the new £4m TechFirst Women’s Programme, which will help 300 women in the technology industry advance their careers and gain opportunities in small and medium-sized businesses through paid placements.
The program will provide coaching and interview preparation support to women and will work with small and medium-sized businesses across the country to identify at least 300 local women in technology roles for minimum six-month placements.
This will enable women to explore new career opportunities and enable small businesses to innovate and bring AI and technology to their operations.
Supporting women returning to the industry after a while away
This will run alongside a new Returnship Jobs pilot scheme to support skilled software developers re-entering the workforce after furlough and into senior technical roles in government.
The repayment scheme will be piloted in conjunction with the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice and will target software developers who have been away from work for more than 18 months, including women to raise children.
This helps overcome the “resume gap” barrier that returners face when trying to return to work, a reality for many women who put their careers on hold for family.
The future of women in tech: Helping young girls think about their future careers
Closing the talent gap means starting long before entering the workforce, and girls need to see themselves in the tech industry before they land their first job.
This year, IBM provided the CyberFirst Girls Competition to over 10,000 students. IBM has confirmed that it has partnered with the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to deliver the new TechFirst Girls Competition, which will launch later this year.
The competition challenges thousands of 12- and 13-year-old girls to use technology like AI and coding to think creatively, solve problems, and compete in challenges to win.
This provides girls with insight into how technology can be leveraged to address problems and what future careers for women in technology may look like.
Better support for women in tech starts today
Building on this package, the Women in Technology Taskforce has today launched a call for evidence to consider how we can better support women in the future as emerging technologies and AI advance, and to investigate the inherent biases built into these technologies that continue to disproportionately impact women.
This ensures that the task force draws on real, lived experience and continues to shape its work and future government action.
Today’s action is a clear signal that the Government is tackling these challenges to build a world-leading technology sector and supporting women in technology from the classroom to the boardroom and every step in between.
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