Women in tech: shameful numbers hide our heroic change-makers

The gender pay gap is a nationwide challenge, but money isn't enough to change the makeup of the tech sector

Last month, forward-thinking legislation required more than 10,000 companies to publish their gender pay gaps; it made for sobering reading.

These were daunting numbers. The figures showed that 78 per cent of companies in the UK pay men more than women. However, behind the doom and gloom of this shameful data, there is an emerging generation of women pioneers, driving innovation and redefining industries. Women like Moo's Chief Technology Officer Meri Williams and Sophie Deen of edtech company Bright Little Labs are embodying the change we want to see, demonstrating the importance of inclusive behaviour and making a difference from the inside.

Faceless statistics serve a purpose, but normalising the wealth of diversity and its success across the industry will inspire true change.

The challenge

The gender pay gap is a nationwide challenge. However, certain sectors performed particularly poorly. The airline industry faced significant scrutiny when it was revealed that EasyJet, TUI, Thomson, and Jet2.com had pay gaps of at least 45 per cent, while only eight of Ryanair's 554 pilots are women.

Banking has a similar mountain to climb to redress its gender imbalance, with Citigroup and Credit Suisse reporting that that they pay women median salaries of 28.9 per cent to 35.2 per cent less.

Closer to home, research by the UK's Tech Talent Charter recently revealed that only 17 per cent of people currently working in technology and ICT roles are women.

The opportunity

Yet these charters are the fuel kicking companies into action - and the rewards facing those that address this gender divide are significant. Research by the consultancy firm McKinsey, which recently examined over 1,000 companies across 12 countries, found that firms in the top quartile for gender diversity are 21 per cent more likely to deliver above-average profitability than those companies in the bottom quartile.

However, although tackling the diversity challenge may be a clear opportunity for business, it seems to have done little to turn the heads of the UK's women. Technology - an industry that enjoys an average salary of £50,663, according to Tech Nation - would be the first-choice careers of only three per cent of the country's female workforce, as highlighted by PWC's Tech She Can Charter.

The fact is that not enough women in the UK currently aspire to become technologists, pilots, bankers, or data scientists - and this needs to change.

The champions

To begin to address this problem, we need to champion the women that are already changing business and society for the better.

This year London Tech Week, Europe's largest technology festival, is celebrating the female change-makers that are transforming the digital economy. As one of these nominated change-makers, I am proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with entrepreneurs, investors, innovators and campaigners harnessing the potential of technology to benefit business and society

It is inspiring to see that Europe's largest technology festival is placing the gender diversity debate front and centre of this year's agenda, and I am thrilled that to be one of the frontrunners of this conversation.

However, the success of initiatives like this will live and die by their ability to change industry behaviours and perceptions towards women. At Stemettes, we champion the ambition that female leaders can inspire in young girls - an essential part of the solution.

Similarly, we seek to challenge the notion that technology is a ‘boring' industry for men only. Our work proves that careers in STEM welcome creative, altruistic minds - it's not just about becoming the next billion-dollar success story, it's about problem-solving and helping others.

Our ambition is to ensure at least a third of the technology industry is female. Delivering on this must start with championing the change-makers that can inspire a transformation.

Anne-Marie Imafidon is CEO of Stemettes.