'Significant work' required to remedy gender imbalance in technology sector
The lack of women in technology represents a potential loss of talent to a growing sector where women represent less than a fifth of the workforce, a new report suggests.
The lack of women in technology represents a potential loss of talent to a growing sector where women represent less than a fifth of the workforce, a new report suggests.
Attracting more women into the field could be a prime opportunity to respond to the needs of the digital technology sector, according to the report Tackling the Gender Technology Gap Together.
The study, on behalf of Scotland's Digital Technologies Skills Group, found that over the years the number of women working in digital technology roles had declined, with women now accounting for 18% of the workforce north of the border.
Researchers found that women made up 20% of pupils studying National 5 Computing Science in school and 16% of those pursuing computing degrees at university.
The Digital Technologies Skills Group has now formed a gender work stream, chaired by Evelyn Walker of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, which is developing a dedicated action plan to help take advantage of the opportunities to encourage women into the sector.
Actions currently in development include greater and improved use of role models in schools, extending the reach of technology into other subjects, promoting the benefits of gender parity and flexible workplaces, and supporting employers to attract, retain and promote female participation.
Evelyn Walker said: ''Addressing the gender imbalance will not be a short-term issue and significant work will be required by a range of stakeholders including education, industry and public agencies. Initiatives such as extracurricular coding groups, mentoring schemes, and the Digital World campaign which is raising awareness and changing perceptions of digital technology careers, are making progress but we need to do more and refine our strategies to reach more females, more effectively. The imbalance starts while girls are in school so it is important that solutions are developed to tackle this issue from early years onwards. However, attracting more females to enter digital technology careers is only part of the solution. Women should be encouraged to remain in the sector and to progress into interesting, rewarding and senior roles.''
She added: ''The research indicates that there are a lot of females who are open to the idea of working in tech. To turn that willingness into a real increase in the number of women in our sector we need to reach, support and inspire them to take the next steps.''
The Digital Technologies Skills Group would also continue to ensure that it engaged girls and women across all of its initiatives including the Digital Xtra Fund for extracurricular computing projects. Researchers found that many young girls at school looked positively at digital technology subjects and careers, and the majority of those studying computing science described it as interesting, important and enjoyable.
This suggested that by raising awareness of the opportunities in an inspirational and credible way there was significant opportunity to attract girls into technology education and careers.
The majority of female students taking computing courses at university aspired to work in the sector after graduation, researchers found.
The industry also attracted women from other backgrounds - around half of women in digital roles come from non-tech backgrounds such as creative arts, business studies and natural studies.
The Employment Research Institute at Edinburgh Napier University completed the research on behalf of the Digital Technologies Skills Group and its partners.