Women in Tech: How Your Business Can Support Female Talent

According to PWC research, only 15% of people working in STEM roles in the UK are female. Worse still, only 5% of leadership positions in the technology industry are held by women.

When it comes to women in STEM roles, it’s clear that females are underrepresented. And with only 15.8% of the UK’s current generation of STEM undergraduates being female, the imbalance does not seem likely to correct itself any time soon.

But why is that? And how can STEM companies attract, retain and nurture female talent?

This is an issue close to the heart of Emma Maslen, the UKI Enterprise Managing Director at SAP Concur. Last week, SAP Concur sponsored CTO of the Year at the annual Women in IT Awards. The awards aim to redress gender imbalance by recognising and rewarding female role models from the industry.

This year’s CTO of the Year award was presented to Katie Nykanen from Adstream for demonstrating continuous innovation, IT expertise and exemplary leadership over the last 18 months.

But what else can companies, especially in the tech industry, do to increase the number of women working in their businesses?

The PWC research gave four suggested actions:

1. Play a greater role in educating students about technology and how it’s shaping the world.
    
2. As well as awareness, increase the ease of access to technology careers.
    
3. You can’t be what you can’t see: highlight female role models at all levels.
    
4. Support women in your business to reach their full potential.

To see how SAP Concur is supporting women in tech, follow @emma_maslen on Twitter.