What should the government be doing to encourage more women into IT?

The technology industry speaks out about gender diversity in UK IT, and tells the government what it needs to do to help encourage a better balance

The UK's IT industry has spoken out about the lack of gender diversity in its upper echelons, and has urged the government to be proactive in redressing the balance.

Computing has recently launched its Women in IT Excellence Awards, and has spoken to a wide variety of technology luminaries to seek their views on what needs to change.

Having already discussed what organisations can do to promote more gender diversity, this time we asked, what should the government do?

Lisa Heneghan, KPMG's Global Head of Technology, Management Consulting: We understand that there will be an increasing demand for technology skills in the future. However, if we look at the current talent pool, we are only tapping into a very minute figure of 18 per cent women in technology roles - and even when we look at initiatives to recruit our graduates across both STEM and non-STEM, reskill our workforce, and establish programs like return to work for our more experienced hires, the talent pool is almost exhausted. We need to start thinking about how to attract the future talent pool which means engagement and attraction into technology needs to start much earlier - the government could help to drive this through the national curriculum and encouraging more proactive engagement between schools and industry.

Within KPMG we hope to inspire young girls by opening their eyes to a new world of tech opportunities that are open to them through work experience, mentoring and teacher engagement. We are also working to ensure we provide robust technology apprenticeships for school leavers. I am committed to supporting KPMG to making a change but to really make a difference, we need government to make technology a mandatory curriculum providing are children with the right skills to get into technology so that both females and males are encouraged and engaged from an early age and we send the message loud and clear that technology is the future and that future is for everyone.

Therese Stowell, principal product manager, Pivotal: We see several key areas that need work: early exposure to the joys of IT and technology, seeing tech as a tool to solve problems rather than tech as an end in itself, female STEM role models, women-friendly cultures in CS departments and tech companies, and mentoring and coaching, from pre-university through to leadership roles.

We need to change the stereotypes surrounding STEM roles, there really is no such thing as a ‘typical' programmer or software developer for example. It is about showing how tech jobs offer a route into almost any industry: from climate change to retail; entertainment to communication.

What should the government be doing to encourage more women into IT?

The technology industry speaks out about gender diversity in UK IT, and tells the government what it needs to do to help encourage a better balance

Claire Stead, Online Safety Expert and Head of Marketing at Smoothwall: The government should be encouraging more apprenticeships in IT that are appealing to young women, and celebrate women already in tech-related roles. Working in IT doesn't necessarily mean being a techy yourself. Take me, for example - I work in marketing but in the IT industry, and I think it's important to showcase more women like this.

Leigh-Anne Galloway, of Positive Technologies: Governments should take a close look at education. People learn in different ways yet modern education encourages children to perform well under exam conditions. Instead we should be encouraging children to think for themselves.

Lastly, there isn't a direct path into IT, if you have a curious mind you'll find a home here.

Gillian Livingstone, managing director at Eureka Solutions: The government should be focusing on educating children at a young age. One way to start this is by looking at ways they can apply real life technology into schools. Through educating children on real life aspects of IT, whether it's creating websites, building applications for mobiles or developing gaming/software, there are now, more than ever, so many ways to try and make the topics at school more appealing to engage children in IT.

This could be tackled by either changing the curriculum in schools to include more varied subjects (as schools are already starting to do through coding programmes) or by utilising the help of external companies to develop projects for younger children. The government can also look at introducing training schemes to get people who have been out of work upskilled to enter the IT sector.

This could also benefit people who are looking for a career change or to get back into work after taking time off. Training schemes can help them to upskill their CV's to be able to apply for jobs within IT. There is a real lack of applicants in such a booming industry and there is a diverse range of people who would be perfect for a role, they just don't know it.

Marissa Di Pasquale, CEO and founder of Cashivity: Being based in Melbourne but having international reach has allowed us to see ways different governments support diversity in IT. Encouraging business growth is a successful strategy that has allowed companies to expand and open their doors to new talent.

Making it easier to explore new markets can also showcase the benefits of engaging with a diverse workforce. For example, we have historically benefitted from travel grants that have allowed the business to enter into new markets and engage with a wider pool of contacts.

Naturally, promoting diversity in IT is important, but governments should ensure they lead by example. Awards recognising tech diversity are a common thing in Victoria State but it can go further. One of our ministers Philip Dalidakis has been known to refuse to attend panels and events that do not have an equal representation of women. This attitude has a positive impact on businesses as well as the wider community. Diversity is a key issue and businesses of all shapes and sizes should ensure it is on their agenda.

Michelle Johnson Cobb, Vice President of Worldwide Marketing for Skybox Security: With the digital skills gap only increasing, the government needs to prioritise getting more women into IT. Tactics could include organising initiatives with schools and employers to arrange projects that encourage girls into the technology industry. They should also invest in educating teaching staff on the job opportunities available in the technology industry, so they can pass on their knowledge to students. At the moment, a majority of teachers are out of touch with exactly what IT jobs exist, therefore, they are unable to provide appropriate careers advice for this particular sector.

In addition, the government could subsidise investment rounds for technology firms run by women. This would encourage women of any age to think about setting up their own IT business, which in turn, should have a knock-on effect of increasing the number of female role models in IT for young girls to look up to.