Role models will bring more women to tech - here's how you can help

Promoting women already in the tech space will give others the confidence to enter it

A lack of role models is holding women back from entering the technology industry - that was the main takeaway from a panel discussing the topic as part of London Tech Week on Monday.

Encouragingly, women made up the majority of the audience at the Trainline offices in Holborn, highlighting the growing interest in the sector. On the other hand, most of the men present appeared to be journalists - so there is obviously still a way to go.

Female representation in the technology industry has actually fallen in recent years: the proportion of programmers and software developers is down to 3.9 per cent, against 10 per cent in 2007.

Code First: Girls CEO Amali de Alwis said that young girls are turned off from tech at a young age. "There's a big challenge around what types of careers we envisage for our girls," she said. "There was some research done by WES [Women's Engineering Society] a few years ago, where they were asking parents what kind of careers they envisaged for their sons and daughters. The reality is, whether we're talking software engineers, physicists, astronauts or whatever, those aren't the types of careers that we associate with our girls.

"It's not that people are actively saying, ‘Don't go and do this', but if you're not actually running a dialogue about the types of careers that are open, and seeing the people that are doing these jobs as people who you can look up to, it's not a surprise that people will then not consider those types of careers."

Clare Gilmartin, CEO of Trainline, agreed that a large part of the gender disparity is because girls "don't see the role models."

"We have 35 per cent women at Trainline - which I'm proud of, because it was 25 per cent three or four years ago - and when I ask them, ‘How did you initially get into tech when you were at school?' so many of the answers are, ‘A role model popped up somewhere, and if she can do it, I can do it'.

"Secondly, I think someone helped them to see how STEM could translate into a career later in life. Someone helped them understand how technology is shaping everyday life...and I think it's very motivating for girls and young women to get into tech with that purpose at the heart."

Ana Avaliani, Head of Enterprise at the Royal Academy of Engineering, said that the men can also act as mentors and role models for women who want to get into tech, which the Academy does through its Enterprise Hub and links with Fellows.

The Royal Academy runs an Enterprise Hub to bring together engineers and creatives to form new companies, while also creating new figures to inspire young people. The Fellows of the Academy, on the other hand, demonstrate success that has already been achieved.

"The Fellowship at the Academy comprises some wonderful men and women, who have achieved great things as far as engineering and technology are concerned," said Avaliani. "Using them as wonderful role models for people to look up to - and replicate or even surpass the success that they have achieved - is something that we're very keen on."

Panel chair Mike Butcher pointed out that women are doing a lot of work to make a space for themselves in tech - but what should men do to help?

Chi Onwurah, the Shadow Minister for Industrial Strategy, Science and Innovation, was an engineer long before becoming an MP. In that time she only had one female manager - but there was a huge difference in the men she worked with, some of whom supported her as a woman and others who did not.

"Men can support and nurture and champion women - men can be fantastic allies," she said. "We're in an industry that is so male-dominated: the role for men is huge."

There is a lot that needs to be done to support an environment that nurtures female talent, the panel concluded - not least because the few high-ranking female technologists are tired of being asked to speak as a token woman.

"There are lots of brilliant women out there," said Avaliani, "but they need that support; they need mentors, they need role models; they need people who will help them along their career to get them to where they deserve to be.

"There is nothing worse than being a token woman, being invited to be part of something just because of your gender. It's important that we all feel valued and we get to places because we deserve to be there.

"In order for us to achieve that, there is a lot more that needs to be done to support the environment and nurture that talent."