There are now fewer female workers in the tech sector than in 2022, new figures from the UK government have shown.
The statistics, from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), show a dip between the first and second quarters of 2023 with about 3,000 women leaving the sector, despite other figures showing that the industry as a whole has grown during the same period between January and June this year.
The overall tech sector saw an increase of 85,000 to 1.73 million while the number of women working in it has been slowly increasing over the past decade, with current figures showing that women account for 22% of workers in the tech industry.
Over the past year the number of women in tech has fluctuated, with a low of 447,000 in the first quarter of last year to a high of 532,000 in its third quarter.
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The loss of 3,000 female workers also followed a 17,000 drop in the number of the women in the industry seen between Q4 of 2022 and Q1 of 2023.
Andy Heyes, managing director UK&I and Central Europe at global technology recruiters Harvey Nash, said he was disappointed by the loss of women in tech. He said: “The industry needs to stay committed to driving up the number of women in tech, which is already too low. This quarter’s dip shows that it’s hard to make progress stick,” he added.
Senna Baillie, director of community at VeUP, said: “Tech companies should … cultivate an all-encompassing culture that encourages development and inclusiveness, bettering attitudes across the board.”
Many female tech leaders feel that the growth of women entering tech remains stunted because of significant barriers of access to the sector – including a lack of visible role models and inclusive cultures, as well as unconscious bias in hiring.
Joanna Kori, head of people at Encompass Corporation, said to attract and retain females, it was important that businesses were proactive and put the right policies and initiatives in place. “This includes focusing on areas such as flexible working,” she added, “which can be transformative when it comes to enabling women, and all employees, to excel in their careers while enjoying a positive work-life balance.”
Hayes said there could be a connection between trends away from flexible working and the loss of women in the sector. He said: “In recent months, with businesses under some financial pressure in a challenging wider economy, we have noticed an increase in employers specifying greater office presence and reducing some aspects of job flexibility.”
Meanwhile, there has been a sharp rise in female students taking computing at A-level – with numbers up 17.6% on last year. Since 2019, this has risen from 1,475 to 2,765 students – an 87.6% increase. Female students, however, only account for 15.1% of computing students.
The new figures, released today alongside the A-level results, also reveal that female students have achieved a higher percentage of top grades than their male counterparts (with 31.3% of female students earning A*-A grades, compared to 21.7% for male students).
There were also increases in the proportion of females studying all Stem subjects of up to 5% (chemistry), except for physics, which saw a decline.
Agata Nowakowska, a senior executive at Skillsoft, said a balanced approach should be taken to the news, considering that last month saw a fall in the number of girls taking computing at degree level. She said: “Stem subjects remain very male-dominated, putting off over a quarter of female students. Old-fashioned biases can still creep in and influence young girls’ decisions, not just in selecting A-Level subjects but when pursuing higher education or looking to join the career ladder. We still have a long way to go before those are fully behind us.”
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