How can we get more women into technology roles?

Delighted to hear from Jo a woman coder and data scientist on her perspective and passion on what we can do collectively and individually to get more women into technology based jobs.

Last week Alex Wilkinson, Harvey Nash Senior Consultant, spoke with Jo Theron, a strong advocate for women in IT, to help identify what we can do to get more women into technology-based roles and celebrate International Women's Day.

Jo’s passion for this subject began when she started coding at fifteen. Since then she has developed her expertise whilst studying at University of Cape Town for her Computer Science & Information Systems undergraduate degree and is now undertaking a Masters in Knowledge, Information & Data Science at UCL. Her dissertation titled “Identifying as a Woman in the IT Industry”, Jo interviewed women about their education and careers in IT exploring the experiences and challenges they had and continue to face.

From this extensive research it’s a pleasure to share some of the topics that were covered and share practical ways individuals, companies, and leaders can get more women into this incredible industry:

1. Visibility
Visibility was one of the best words that came out of the conversation. We need to champion the women in tech to ensure there are women in tech in the future. Companies need to make a better effort to ensure the women already in the industry are visible. This shows people that it is possible for women to have a fulfilling career in tech.
Harvey Nash were delighted to feature in Diversity Q recently assessing how technology can be a great career for women and how much of the challenge comes down to attracting women into the profession. You can read the full article here.

2. Celebrate
We need to celebrate women in leadership roles. Susan Wojcicki, Safra Catz, Ginni Rometty, and Sheryl Sandberg (to name a few) have done amazing things in the technology world, and we should be applauding them a lot more.
At Harvey Nash we are delighted to have such an experienced and trailblazing CEO, Bev White, who was recently recognised as one of the most influential women in UK Tech, you can more information here.

3. Attractive opportunities
We should all want more women in tech. We need more women to apply for the jobs already out there. Some companies already have hiring strategies aimed at including more women in IT to help advance gender equality. These strategies should be made public and celebrated. If your company wants to help transform the male-dominated industry, make the job attractive.
Does your business not know where to start, we recently recorded a podcast episode focusing on how can technology businesses be secure, inclusive and ethical which you can listen to here.

4. Leading the way
Need more guidance on how to encourage more women in tech? Our Chief People Officer Melanie Hayes recently discussed the opportunity to drive up female representation for Information Age which you can read here.

Furthermore, companies should be driving this agenda as early as possible. Many students don’t know what they want to do after university, so this is the perfect time to encourage young women to enter the IT industry.

Jo Theron

Jo Theron is a coder & Data Scientist with a research interest in gender parity in the IT disparity. Jo is currently studying for her Masters in Knowledge, Information & Data Science at UCL.

Alex Wilkinson

Alex Wilkinson is a Senior Consultant specialising in Software Engineering as part of our Financial Services team. Alex has over 5 years experience with an extensive portfolio of reputable clients. Please contact Alex if you'd like more information: Alex.Wilkinson@HarveyNash.com 07384 845322

Find more information about our International Women's Day conference here.

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