A new report has said that having more women in IT could in fact boost the UK’s economic value.
Latest findings from Nominet, a private, not-for-profit business responsible for the running of the .uk internet infrastructure, will interest female IT contractors, with claims that more women in the technology sector could boost the UK economy by £2.6 billion per year.
Figures from the internet company show that currently, women make up less than one fifth of the IT workforce.
The report found that low female participation in IT education is a key factor in the workforce gender gap. Only a third of ICT A-level students and less than a tenth of Computer Studies A-Level students are female, and only 9% of female students taking IT degrees go on to an IT career, compared with 26% of men.
The research also found that 53% agree that women find working in technology jobs less attractive than men do. Of these, 60% of believe that the IT profession is still perceived to be male-dominated, and 33% think IT is not promoted enough as a viable career option for girls in school or college.
Nominet’s Director of HR Gill Crowther said of the findings, “The digital economy is driving economic growth in the UK. Given the extent of the IT skills shortage, we can’t afford to only recruit from half the talent pool. It’s alarming to think that, if current trends continue, the IT gender gap will get bigger rather than smaller.
“We need to attract more women into the technology industry at every level and this starts with encouraging girls at school and university to study IT subjects. The new curriculum coming into force in September offers a fantastic opportunity for girls to become engaged with more technical subjects as the study of computing – and coding – becomes compulsory for all schoolchildren.”
Simon Dolan is the Sales & Marketing Manager for Contractor Umbrella Ltd, one of the UK’s Most Respected Umbrella Companies and founder member of AllUmbrellaCompaniesAreEqual.
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