UK tech firms hire more women professionals

52% of UK firms have increased the amount of female IT professionals they employ over the past five years, according to new research from specialist IT recruiter, Robert Half Technology.

UK Chief Information Officers (CIOs) believe that the increase in employment of women in the technology sector is being largely driven by mentoring programmes (cited by 34%), greater enrolment in technology education (28%) and government initiatives (17%).

An edition of the CIO 100 report revealed that around one-in-seven of the UK’s top 100 CIOs are women and their example of leadership is encouraging more females to embark on a career in the sector.

The report cited the top three as Christina Scott, CIO of the Financial Times; Catherine Doran, Royal Mail Group; and Carolyn Brown, Durham University.

The showcasing of successful female IT leaders is the most effective way to develop new senior female technology professionals, according to 14% of UK CIOs.

The growth of female IT professionals is higher in larger companies (67%) than in medium (52%) and small (38%) companies, suggesting that there are more opportunities for women in firms with larger in-house IT teams.

59% of private companies and 55% of publicly listed firms are more likely to have seen a growth than public sector organisations (42%).

Charlie Grubb, Associate Director at Robert Half Technology, commented: “It’s encouraging to see that the number of female IT professionals is growing relatively quickly, although there is still some way to go before the gender balance is addressed at the most senior level of CIO.”

Although more women are being encouraged into technology careers by a range of measures adhered by businesses and the government, Grubb believes that mentoring is key to continuing this trend.

“Mentoring is an effective strategy that all businesses can adopt to encourage more female employees to build confidence and take on more challenges.

“Having a role model who can advise on jobs, challenging situations and day-to-day decisions can help aspiring female leaders to take the next step in their careers. Furthermore, increased spending in IT coupled with expansion of TechCity and TechNorth will spell greater opportunity for tomorrow’s technology talent,” he explained.