IT recruitment company Structured Project Resources hosted an event aimed at tackling the current gender gap in senior board levels across the UK IT industry featuring some of Britain’s most influential business men and women.
‘Women in Technology’ – which took place on October 15 was organised to help inspire, coach and mentor tomorrow’s female leaders in the business and technology space.
According to the Women in Technology Project Research Report 2015, the UK workforce is currently 46 percent female but only 15 percent of the IT professional workforce is female. A survey conducted by Tech London Advocates found that 23% of technology companies in London have no women in senior positions; highlighting a lack of diversity in senior board positions in the UK capital.
Structured Project Resources is keen to support more women into leadership roles and provide guidance for those women looking to switch careers into the technology industry.
During the event, a panel of guest speakers including Bijna Dasani, Vice President ofDeutsche Bank, and Natalie Gross, CEO of Amaze, shared insights into work currently being done in schools, universities and with employers to bridge the current gender gap in the IT industry.
Structured Project Resources will also announce at the event details of its ‘Structured Mentoring Programme’, which starts next year. The pilot programme will provide mentoring to 60 women from C-Level executives throughout the year to support their progress within the IT industry, with a view to placing them into more senior level roles once the programmehas been completed.
Structured Project Resources will work closely with a number of companies within the industry to ensure those mentored are given the skills needed to bridge the current skills gap. The mentoring programme will provide emotional support to those being mentored to ensure they have the mind-set to handle the step-up into leadership roles.
Speaking about the event, Structured Project Resources director Rav Bumbra said: “Hopefully this event can help to raise the profile of women in technology in the UK as a whole and showcase why it’s important to have a mix of genders at board level.”
Sharon Clews, director of Women in Technology at tech UK, said: “Mentors are vital to encouraging more women to take up tech careers. By inspiring the next generation of leaders, and demonstrating that tech is a creative industry that offers a variety of opportunities, we can help overcome the gender divide and tackle the skills gap facing tech companies across the UK.”
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