We need more mid-career women pivoting to tech
‘Squiggly’ careers mean both employers and employees can benefit from transferable skills
Mid-career women possess a host of transferable skills – skills which remain in short supply, according to tech employers. The solution seems obvious, so why isn't there more mid-career pivoting to tech?
The fact that girls rule themselves out of tech careers very early in life is widely acknowledged as a problem but both the tech sector and the wider economy. There are excellent not-for-profit organisations like Stemettes, Next Tech Girls and Tech She Can which all work hard to inspire girls and young women, and to show them what a tech career can look like.
This is welcome and necessary work and Computing will continue to support it wholeheartedly. However, attracting women into entry-level positions in tech is just part of the story. Data suggests that the gender gap in tech employment becomes more pronounced as careers advance.
Not only do women drop out of tech careers at a much higher rate than their male colleagues, but there are also few initiatives supporting women who have maybe a decade or more of workforce experience to move into digital and tech careers.
A panel at the Women and Diversity in Tech Festival on 5th November will discuss the potential of entering tech later in life. The potential extends to both employer and employee. Women who are mid-career often possess a rich array of transferable skills which tech employers continually tell us are in short supply – communication, problem solving and critical thinking being good examples.
Mid-career women can also bring fresh perspectives. Differing experiences can shake up workplace cultures and drive innovation. Providing mid-career women with opportunities to retrain and reskill can lead to greater productivity, employee satisfaction and subsequently improved staff retention rates.
So why doesn’t it happen more often?
Lynne Bailey is Chief Data Strategist at Databricks. Speaking exclusively to Computing at the Databricks Data + AI World Tour last month, Bailey shared her view that stereotypical ideas about routes into tech still exert considerable influence.
“I think there's a view that you have to start in STEM, computer science – one of those disciplines. That view might not be explicit but it's always been there. So your male counterparts probably will have come from that background and then women generally will potentially think that because they haven’t come from that background, a tech career isn’t for them.
“I’ve just chaired a panel with women from very different backgrounds. One came from a linguistics background, and another from a biochemist background, and they were now working in deep tech.
“I think what we need to do, as well as focusing on getting more girls and young women into STEM is to also focus on this ‘squiggly’ career concept and enable people to understand that you can come to tech later in life.”
Bailey pointed out that women make excellent programme managers and change managers. Many women who end up working in technology later in their careers go via this route. As a lateral career move it can be a powerful one.
“I think people focus on the technology,” she says, “but I've worked on cloud migrations, and I think we sometimes miss the whole change management element. The women I've worked with over the years make exceptional programme managers and exceptional change managers as well. I think there's a different way to look at things like cloud computing and technology that isn’t just about the tech it's about the capabilities and the change management that needs to go with it.”
Moving laterally if you already work in a tech adjacent role or industry is one thing, but it’s harder to pivot from a completely different industry, even with a raft of transferable skills.
Dr Mona Mourshed, Founding CEO at Generation explains some findings of Generation’s research in this area, and issues some words of warning.
“Employers value equally someone with five years of work experience and someone with 25 years of work experience,” says Mourshed. “Employers are essentially saying that they can get the same out of someone who has been on the job for five years as opposed to someone who's been there for 25 years. Candidates in their late 40s, 50s, 60s are viewed as less fit for purpose than someone in their 30s. Candidates in their late 20s, mid and 30s are most favored by employers.”
The mid-life paradox
This bias persists even though Generation’s research also found that 89 percent of employers recruiting for tech roles reported that the midcareer and older workers (defined as between 45-64 years) they had hired performed as well or better than their younger hires.
Employees aged 45–64 were perceived to more loyal, with 86% saying that they stayed in their roles longer than younger colleagues and 83% reported that they learned more quickly.
Mourshed believes that reskilling provides an opportunity to break out of this paradox and help potential mid-life career switchers.
“Reskilling offers an effective strategy to combat self-doubt, by learning the technical and behavioural skills required to thrive in the workplace and meeting a supportive community of like-minded peers who can share and learn from each other's workplace experiences.
"Reskilling helps level the playing field for women. It's not just about learning technical skills to secure a job; it's also about gaining the confidence to apply for that promotion, speak up in meetings, or pivot to a completely new career path."
Someone who has taken a completely new career path is Jennifer Okoh, who worked in retail banking prior to taking some time out to raise a family. Okoh studied for financial qualifications when she wasn’t working but then changed her mind.
“I thought tech wasn’t for me because it was all about coding and then I found DevOps! I was very used to working in teams collaborating and all of that is key in DevOps. A family friend who is a senior DevOps engineer just sold it to me.
“I just needed to hear that I was able to do it, because I was just thinking about the things I don't know and don't have, rather than focus on what I do have and what I could bring. I had that light bulb moment. I did an intro to DevOps course in September 2023 and thought ‘OK, I can do this.’ The Makers bootcamp came along and I thought it would be a great springboard into tech. It’s been an interesting journey because I’ve done things I didn’t think I could. My fear of coding has all gone!
“If I can do it you can do it and it’s never too late.”
Panel discussions, keynotes and workshops covering all stages of tech careers are on the agenda at the Women and Diversity in Tech Festival on 5th November. This years’ event sees the return of the very popular Mentoring Academy. The event is in less than two weeks, but you still have time to book.