Lateral thinking: the many paths to diverse tech excellence
The Computing and CRN Women in Tech Festival is returning to London on 3rd November as an in person event and digitally on 9th November. The festival presents a perfect opportunity to connect with peers and mentors, share knowledge and be inspired. Second release tickets are available until the end of September.
One of the challenges faced by the tech sector is the perception that it is mainly populated by primarily white, male Computer Science graduates who were destined from an early age for a life of coding, possibly as a substitute for social skills. You could argue about the extent to which this was ever really true (coding was mainly performed by women in the 1950's and 1960's until the industry decided it wanted to change its low status image, and the "nerd" stereotype didn't really take root until the 1980's) but nonetheless plenty of potential tech employees of all ages still buy into it - and it is partly this belief that helps to sustain the tech gender imbalance.
Part of the fun of Women in Tech Festival is showing up just how outmoded these stereotypes are, and examining the multitude of routes into tech. Many of the speakers and panellists at the event, along with other high achieving women in technology, have moved into technical roles after previously having worked in other areas such as finance, project and programme management, customer facing and creative roles. They might have entered tech via apprenticeships or by taking a course with a deliberate view to reskilling and seeking out a more lucrative job. Or they could have ended up there wholly by accident and decided they rather enjoyed it. The routes into tech are as diverse as the roles available.
Many winners of Women in Tech Excellence awards (several of whom are now involved with the 2022 event as judges) did not set out with a plan to work in the industry. Kate Beverly, Global IT Executive at Pearson, began her career working at a craft magazine and ended up acting as a one women helpdesk. She took a coding course, got an entry level development role and worked her way into complex project delivery.
University isn't the only route
The success of some of the other judges deftly illustrates the reality that entry into technology doesn't have to be via a graduate route - or even a technical one. Sarah Lucas, Head of Migration Services at Lloyds Banking began her career in accounting and gradually moved into technology as finance became increasingly digitised.
Nerissa Thakurdas, winner of the Outstanding Transformation category in 2021 and now Head of Security Operations Centre at Falanx Cyber is a great ambassador both for taking an apprenticeship route into tech and also for moving sideways from a tech service delivery background into cyber security. She explains how she made the move into a field which has interested her for a long time.
"I didn't have cybersecurity experience but of course there's a lot of cross over between IT and security and I'd worked with security teams in the past. What my line manager wanted was to find somebody with the service delivery experience, who could apply it to maturing the delivery of cyber security services."
Tech is becoming more creative
The diversity of background of the WITA judges extends to those from creative arts backgrounds such as Milly Batchelor, winner of Rising Star in 2021. Batchelor believes that a creative background, far from being a barrier to a tech career, can actually be a big advantage as the type of technical roles required evolves. Her own move into tech from finance was prompted by a desire to exercise her creative skills to improve the experiences of Nat West customers using digital platforms.
Russ Shaw, founder of not-for-profit Tech London Advocates and Global Tech Advocates is also firmly convinced of the need for creative skills in technology.
"We've talked a lot about STEM, coding, programming, data scientists etc. and we desperately need that talent but we also need people with creative skills, we need people with project management skills, we need great content writers, we need people with marketing skills. Tech is broadening out into many areas. We have to do a much better job of saying, ‘if you're interested in writing, or art or design, still think about a career in digital and tech.' There's some really interesting stuff that's happening with immersive tech - AR and VR, with the metaverse, with web3 - the creative industries and the technology sector are colliding. "
The UK is a world leader in creative industries and in technology but will struggle to maintain that position if we can't fill the hundreds of thousands of jobs that will be created. As Shaw says, "we're going to struggle to fill them not just with coders and programmers, but people who have digital production skills, art and design skills."
Shaw also raises the point that this is not just about recruiting youngsters into the industry. Possibilities for lateral career development are plentiful and varied.
"We have to give the 40, 50 and 60 somethings a message that says ‘you may not have the requisite skills today, but with some reskilling and retraining on digital and tech, would you be willing to work in the sector? Perhaps you're a great project manager and you've done that for 25 or 30 years. There's a whole host of start-ups and scale ups out there that need you.' It's one of the biggest job opportunities out there."
Women often have transferable skills
Naomi Timperley, Co-Founder of Tech North Advocates emphasises the importance of not just creative skills, but transferable skills and also the fact that tech jobs cover a much wider range than people often think.
"A friend who was a marketing manager did a self-funded UX course. I know that not everybody else is able to do that but there are lots of fantastic boot camps out there such as the 12-week ones that the Department of Education funds which are free. But as a marketer, you have to know as much as you can about the customer and that skill set is so transferable to UX."
Lopa Patel MBE Chair of Diversity UK agrees that areas like marketing can be full of individuals with transferable skills.
"A lot of the people in AI are often women, because they've come at it via a data marketing route or the programme and project management route, and their problem-solving skills are exactly what's needed."
Technology offers a multitude of career choices and paths, and the roles are diversifying along with the people filling them - a trend that logically has to continue if the industry is to continue to grow. The Women in Tech Festival offers an opportunity to celebrate this diversity of role, career path and success, and persuade potential tech industry employees that the old stereotypes no longer apply.
Computing is hosting the Women in Tech Festival live in London on 3 November and digitally on 9 November.
Join us to learn how the industry can keep championing diversity and make positive changes. Find your sense of belonging as we bring together the tech industry to collaborate, learn, and grow.
Find out more here
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