Women are put off STEM careers and it's hurting the UK, says CWJobs

Time to stop just talking the talk, says commercial director Dominic Harvey. More diverse companies do better

The adage "you can't be what you can't see" is particularly true of women pursuing careers in STEM subjects, according to Dominic Harvey, commercial director of IT jobs board CWJobs, speaking at Computing and CRN's Women in Tech Festival on Tuesday.

Referencing a recent survey of 2,000 STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) professionals, Harvey highlighted findings that show the extent of the problem. For example, only 17 per cent of those working in IT are female, and women make up just five per cent of senior management in technology, compared to 18 per cent in the general workforce.

Meanwhile, among the next generation, many 18 to 24-year-old females say they see no role models of their gender within technology at all, with half believing they don't have the skills to succeed. Tech is seen as a male-dominated world with few opportunities for promotion, said Harvey.

"Women see role models as crucial. They show them opportunities and career paths that are not necessarily obvious. And they can educate other women on how to deal with bias and change the stereotypical perceptions."

Fifty-one per cent of women in tech said they'd been told that their gender could hinder their career, Harvey said, making it easy for them to write off the opportunity.

It's so important to share the stories of women who have broken through the glass ceiling

"That's why it's so important to share the stories of women who have broken through the glass ceiling."

While there are a number of high-profile women in science and technology, they are rarely treated with the respect accorded to their male counterparts. Compare the coverage given to astronaut Helen Sharman and Elon Musk, for example.

The lack of visible inspiration combined with an unwelcoming prospect is enough to snuff out a potential career before it even gets started, which is a personal tragedy. On a wider scale, this translates into big problems for science and technology in the UK. Growth of the UK IT sector is starting to slow, and outside of London, the country is becoming a less attractive place to pursue a tech career - this at a time when Brexit is also having a negative impact, and when 71 per cent of organisations report an IT skill shortage.

So, companies and the country are missing out. A study by the bank Morgan Stanley concluded that companies with a high degree of diversity tend to be more profitable and more stable, with a lower turnover of staff.

While the diversity problem, exacerbated by a lack of role models, is widely acknowledged, how to tackle it is less clear. Harvey namechecked three organisations he said were leading the way: Sky, the BBC and Bookings.com.

"They are repositioning their brands to attract female talent," Harvey said.

Sky has a programme called Get into Tech to help women learn new skills even if they have little prior IT experience. Newcomers and those returning to work can enrol in the course for free. So far 500 have done just that, and there are 23 new female developers at Sky. Booking.com boasts an IT team that is already 20 per cent female and is aiming to push this number higher through a mentoring programme in partnership with Web Summit which has so far attracted 200 participants, while the BBC has long been a leader in promoting diversity in technology.

For its part, CWJobs has rolled out a mentoring scheme of its own, in which female staff are given the opportunity to be coached by senior female co-workers, and an accelerator programme for advancing women's tech careers that will run for the next two years. It is also studying job ads to check for gender bias. A recent study by the firm found an average of six gender-biased terms per advertisement.

"With females less likely than makes to consider a technology career, we need to do whatever we can as individuals and employers to attract skilled women into key roles," said Harvey.