Is it time to make businesses accountable for diversity in tech?

SheCanCode's Spilling The T

Hands up if your business is motivating girls and women in STEM!

Putting women at the centre of a business strategy doesn’t sound like the hardest objective. Yet it’s managing to stump hundreds and thousands of CEOs and senior managers throughout STEM organisations; perhaps holding their businesses – and innovation - back as a result. By 2030, when 11% of the workforce is comprised of socially savvy generation alphas, diversity will have to be the norm.

Yes, change is happening, but slowly. The numbers tell us that girls are overlooking and or being overlooked to study STEM subjects and degrees. According to UCAS, 35% of STEM students in higher education in the UK are women, and only 19% of students studying engineering and technology degrees are female. The honest truth is that so many women unexpectedly find themselves in technology careers that they hadn’t realised was perfect for them.

In this episode, Sarah Friswell, CEO, Red Ant, looks at why it’s so important to tackle the women in tech issue and whether it’s time to hold businesses accountable for the lack of diversity in tech.

Sarah has been leading the charge for women in tech since joining Red Ant in 2009. She's build a company of tech experts which is at least 59% female and she's also a founding member of CHIEF, an organisation that supports women in leadership.

She's featured in the top women in tech in Retail Technology Innovation Hub and is driving flexibility and opportunity for women within her organisation as well as ensuring that Red Ant engages directly with schools and colleges in workshops to motivate young people - girls in particular - to want to join the tech industry.

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