Women in Tech: number of UK female developers set to rise

The ranks of UK female developers are set to rise, according to a study by Stack Overflow Careers.

Although just 4 percent of UK developers are women, the fact 19 percent of them joined the profession in the last year indicates more women are choosing to pursue careers as developers, according to a study.

Just 3.4 percent of male developers in the UK have less than one year’s experience, the report by Stack Overflow Careers said.

With an average salary of £45,000, developers in the UK earn more than anywhere else in Europe, apart from Denmark, although still much less than the £57,000 paid to their US counterparts.

Unemployment has been virtually eradicated for developers in the UK thanks in part to London’s thriving tech scene, which provides almost a third of all new jobs in the capital, according to the report.

The study found 42 percent of developers are self-taught while 40 percent have a BSc degree in computer science or a similar field.

Female developers are less likely to be self-taught than their male counterparts and more likely to have taken part in an online course or intensive coding boot camp.

The report found 38 percent of UK developers have switched jobs in the last year and 53 percent would consider leaving their current role if a more interesting role was offered to them – highlighting how hard it is for employers to attract and retain talent.

Almost half of UK developers value the opportunity to work remotely and want to be contacted less by recruiters, the highest percentage in the world.

“The UK remains a hotbed for developers and the boom in London is sucking up all the available coding talent,” said Joel Spolsky, CEO of Stack Overflow Careers’ parent company Stack Exchange.

“The market for developers is incredibly tight, which in turn drives up wage inflation and poses a huge challenge for the tech community as it strives to build on its global potential,” he added.

Over 26,000 developers from 157 countries participated in the Stack Overflow Careers survey.

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