The tech industry has long been an area where women are very much in the minority of the workforce. In 2017 PWC stated that only 3% of female students were considering a career in technology as their first choice and at that time they stated that only 23% of people in STEM roles in the UK were women, with only 5% in leadership roles. Post-pandemic there was a marked levelling up of the gender split in many industries, however not in the tech space. In fact, the reverse was true. We saw even fewer women working in tech and pursuing a STEM career. Unfortunately, despite decades of progress towards equality in the workplace, women remain woefully underrepresented in the UK’s technology workforce.
In 2018 globally 21% of the tech team were female and 12% in leadership roles. These figures were closely mirrored in the UK with 20% and 9% respectively. Fast forward to 2023/24 and that number has changed globally to 23% of women on the team and 14% in leadership roles and in the UK 23% of women on the team and 12% in leadership roles.
There is clearly work to be done, right from encouraging female students to study STEM subjects to businesses embracing female talent in the industry. And that brings me to our two wonderful guests on the latest Deal Divas podcast.
It was an absolute pleasure to speak with two female leaders in the technology workplace who work for VERTICE, an organisation providing spend optimisation services for the SaaS and Cloud arena. Jess and Lily are Procurement Team Leads for Vertice and it was fascinating to get their insights and perspective on their roles as well as their experience as women, can I say trailblazing women, in a field where women remain very much in the minority.
What came across was how much they relish and enjoy their roles and the work they do. I hope that hearing from women like Jess and Lily might inspire others considering a career in this field.
If you have any questions for the Deal Divas, or if there are any topics you would like us to discuss, you can email us at deal.divas@scotwork.com.
'Deal Divas' is a podcast that offers a candid, sometimes serious, sometimes humorous take on all things negotiation from three women who spend their lives immersed in the topic. Episode 5 is now available on all podcast platforms, subscribe to our channels to be updated when new episodes are launched.
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