The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has announced several new initiatives aimed at boosting female participation in the tech sector.
Figures shows that women remain significantly underrepresented in technology, and the economy loses an estimated £2 to £3.5 billion every year as females leave the sector.
To tackle the issue, the government is introducing a new £4 million TechFirst Women’s Programme which will help 300 women advance their careers through paid work placements in SMEs.
There is also a new returnship jobs scheme to support software developers to re-enter the workforce into senior tech roles. It will be piloted by the Home Office and Ministry of Justice and will be open to any software developers who have been away from work for 18 months or more, such as women who have been caring for children.
A new TechFirst Girls Competition will launch later this year. Thousands of 12 and 13 year old girls will take part by using technologies like AI and coding.
Also part of today’s announcements is a call for evidence from the Women in Tech Taskforce which launched last December. The consultation examines how to better support women around emerging technologies and AI and tackle the inherent biases built into the technologies which disproportionately impact women.
The government cited research showing AI tools used in recruitment favour male names nearly five times more than females, and AI models built to predict liver disease being twice as likely to miss the disease in women.
Technology secretary Liz Kendall said:
“Women aren’t being given a fair shot in tech – whether that’s getting into the sector, staying in it, or returning after time away bringing up their families. If we don’t address these issues now, we’ll still be having this conversation in decades’ time and that isn’t good enough.
“We’re acting through a skills and jobs package to get more women into tech quickly. These aren’t warm words – they’re real jobs, real placements, and real routes back in through a door that has been too hard to open, for too long.
“But we’re not just fixing today’s problem. Through the Women in Tech Taskforce, I want to make sure women aren’t just entering this sector – they’re shaping it. Co-creating the technologies, the culture, and the future of an industry that for too long has been built without them.”