If we build more inclusive cultures, we will attract and retain more women in tech

Harvey Nash Group CEO Bev White believes that tech culture needs to change to become more welcoming for women

When I stepped into my Computer Science degree many years ago, I was one of only a handful of women in the class. When I took my first CIO role a few years later, it took more than six months before I met a women in a similar position.

Fast forward to today and how much has changed?

Sadly, not very much.

UCAS reports that women make up just 13 per cent of students studying computer science, gaming and related courses in the UK. Harvey Nash's own research tells us that women comprise just 15 per cent of tech professionals, and a mere 13 per cent of the most senior roles. Both statistics have remained broadly flat for at least a decade.

What makes this statistic more stark is if you look at other professions. Around half of people studying for accountancy qualifications are women, while according to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) women make up 48 per cent of lawyers (even if they currently account for only one-third of partners).

So what is happening in technology? And does it matter?

Let's start with the second question first, because yes it does.

The world is being transformed by technology. Today there will be around 3.5 billion Google searches, one quarter of the planet will logon to Facebook and many thousands of credit checks will be run. The outcome of each will affect what the user reads and learns. It will influence their opinion, it may even influence what finances they have available.

Technology is transforming our lives, our organisations and economies. Not only should this significantly growing career be open to all, but do we really want the underlying algorithms to be created by a mostly male group of people based mainly in Silicon Valley?

There is no easy solution to getting more women into technology. Technology is still often depicted as a nerdish, inward looking career, and while that perception is beginning to change, it still has a negative effect.

I think a key thing here is that we really need to turn up the volume on how technology is anything but nerdish. In fact, I can't think of a more creative, rewarding and exciting career that can genuinely change the world!

The core of inclusion is about creating the right culture throughout our businesses. That's what makes the ‘stickiness' that means people feel like they belong and want to stay. We still see too much ‘in my club/not in my club' behaviour and very overtly competitive or male environments. Women are competitive too but not in the same way as men. If an imbalanced male atmosphere dominates, women will fade out.

Sadly, sexism is alive and well too. It may not be as blatant as it was when I started out in my career a couple of decades ago, but it's still there even if it is often unintentional or unpremeditated. Laddish language, casual remarks - they all make a difference and build little micro walls dividing people off from each other.

I like to ask people "Do you have a daughter, a niece, a granddaughter? How do you want the workplace to be for them?" This usually gets people thinking and looking at it through a different lens.

We all have to keep on advocating for change - let's not pretend we can't make change happen. We can, and so we should. For leaders and managers in tech, our role is to do everything we can to facilitate the creation of inclusive and open workplaces. It is about supporting, mentoring and sometimes nudging people in our teams to advance, develop and progress. People usually have far more potential than they think they do - it's about helping them unlock that, whoever they are and whatever their gender. Every day I challenge myself and our leaders to be inclusive and ask ourselves what we can do to throw the doors wide open and welcome women in.

Technology is a brilliant career - creative, central to modern life, well-paid. Women need to have a proper part of it. They have so much to offer. As an industry, we need to make better progress on all forms of diversity and find the way to a more inclusive future.

Bev White is CEO of recruitment giant Harvey Nash Group

The Women in Tech Festival UK returns in September. Check out the photos from last year's hugely successful event - and reserve your place for this year's even bigger and better Festival