Diversity in tech starts in schools: an interview with Cypher Coder's Elizabeth Tweedale

Computing talks to Cypher Coders CEO Elizabeth Tweedale about founding new tech businesses and diversity in the IT industry

Computing: Was your experience founding a tech company affected by being a woman?

Elizabeth Tweedale: I've never launched a company as a man, so I don't know! I don't think of it that way. Everyone has challenges to overcome. Being a startup founder is difficult. Every day, there are many new problems to deal with.

I'm sure we all experience and see these in different ways, and of course, some may sadly be caused by other's thoughts or opinions. But I'm focused on launching and scaling businesses that I believe in, and deal with issues in my own unique way.

Computing: What are your thoughts on the efforts the industry is making to increase diversity in IT?

There's a lot of talk about increasing diversity in the technology industry, but we're still far away from a world where there's an equal split between male and female technologists. Unfortunately, men still outnumber women on boards and teams across all spheres of STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics].

Until organisations wake up to this problem and understand that both genders play an important role in technology, we're going to continue seeing inequality and a lack of diversity in this industry. I genuinely believe that the technology industry is stronger when both men and women work together.

The reality is that IT is still seen as a male-dominated industry, and therefore the majority of women and girls aren't pursuing technology careers. We need to make it clear to women and girls that technology is ingrained in all aspects of society and that they can achieve great things.

So even for people who work in typically female-dominated sectors such as marketing and fashion, they no doubt use technology in their day-to-day roles. As the connected ecosystem expands, everyone will need to understand how to use technology if they want to succeed in their careers.

Computing: What more could or should the government be doing?

If we're to encourage more women to enter the technology industry and ultimately solve the issue of gender diversity, more needs to be done at the grassroots level. In schools, we need to inspire and encourage girls to develop computational thinking from a young age. That way, they'll be more likely to take higher education courses in computing and develop technology careers.

From a government perspective, there's often been inaction to develop a robust and effective computing curriculum that reflects the needs of the technology industry. Teaching students how to use Microsoft Word is one thing, but schools must teach practical technology skills like coding and ensure this is appealing to girls as well as boys.

Having computing as part of the national curriculum is crucial in tackling diversity in tech, although schools and teachers should also utilise technology in other subjects. The use of edtech in classes not only makes learning more engaging and creative for students but also encourages everyone to show an interest in technology.

Computing: Have you experienced sexism within the IT industry?

For any female entrepreneur, there's a plethora of obstacles they will need to overcome. Raising investment, a lack of female co-workers and male-dominated boards are some of the many challenges we face.

It's great to see more people talking about these challenges, how to fix them and celebrating the success of women in tech. But we must avoid tokenism, embrace diversity across the board and spotlight all the great things that people achieve regardless if they're male or female.

Computing: How should more females be encouraged to take STEM subjects during secondary and tertiary education?

I'm hugely passionate about educating girls on the exciting opportunities in the technology sector, and I've given a lot of speeches to girls about the great things they can achieve.

We need to be clear that technology can appeal to girls with varying interests. Whether it's medicine, fashion, marketing, architecture or fitness, technology will increasingly impact all industries and any career that girls choose will be impacted by STEM one way or another. When teaching code at Cypher, we cover loads of topics so that our classes are immersive and suited to everyone's interests.

STEM is typically delivered in a way that facilitates a certain type of person, which is predominantly boys and men. We need to change the way STEM is taught by incorporating different kinds of lesson examples. So, instead of a war game, students could be challenged to create a wildlife sanctuary to learn the same computational concepts.

Exposing girls to successful women technologists who can act as role models is another important step in encouraging more females to take STEM subjects. We need to show them that women of all backgrounds are pursuing exciting careers and that they can do the same.

Computing: How can more females be encouraged to enter IT?

The first step is communicating that technology is an industry that women will want to and should join.

Again, we need to show positive women achieving great things in an exciting and constantly evolving sector. We must get them excited about technology and what it could offer them as a career. Events like International Women's Day are an excellent way to inspire the female technologists of tomorrow, and it's great to see so many amazing women taking part.

The Women in Tech Festival UK returns in September: Three stages, six hours of collaboration, coaching, panel talks and more. To find out more and to book your place, check out the dedicated website