Research looking at the best places for women seeking tech roles in the UK has ranked the Scottish capital Edinburgh as a top runner.

An increasing number of women are transitioning into areas across tech, and the UK has a thriving scene that still lacks female talent filling roles.

Tech investment is currently surging across the UK, and researchers from FDM Group collected data on the most prosperous cities for women seeking tech roles.

Data revealed that Cambridge, Manchester, Edinburgh, Bristol, and Leeds offer the best opportunities for employment and growth, pointing to the number of jobs, tech investment, gender pay gap, and average pay in each city.

Locations were selected based on UK cities with the most tech investment. Each city was then assigned a rank based on average tech salary, the number of current tech job vacancies, the level of tech investment they received in 2021, and the average gender pay gap in each location.

Data was taken from the Office of National Statistics, Indeed, FDM 2021 Gender Pay Gap Report, and SmartSurvey.

Edinburgh came in third, sitting behind Cambridge in the top spot and Manchester in second place. However, the Scottish capital came out ahead of Bristol and Leeds.

Recommended

• Glasgow Science Centre opens Newton Flight Academy
• Data Protection Summit 2022 | The current state of legislation
• Edinburgh AI startup named among ‘Rising Stars’ of UK tech

The city has seen strong growth over the last few years, raising a substantial £117 million in the tech sector.

Edinburgh also has very competitive salaries compared to other areas of the UK, with the average tech job paying £58,405 a year. The average pay gap is around 14%, which is slightly lower compared to other large Scottish cities such as Aberdeen where the gap is 17.2%.

Several businesses in Edinburgh are also participating in the UK’s four-day work scheme trial, looking at whether employees can operate at 100% productivity with no reduction in pay.

Commenting on the results, FDM Group COO Sheila Flavell said: “Women play an incredibly instrumental role in the tech industry, and while there is still a lot of progress to be made, we are pleased to see so many cities across the UK offering more opportunities in the space.

“As this progression has been made, we have also seen an increase in women hired for leadership and senior roles within the business.

“Last year, we took significant strides in improving everything we do for greater gender equality in the workplace. And from our 2021 gender pay gap report, we are pleased to report a 0.5% mean gender pay gap”.

Get the latest news from DIGIT direct to your inbox

Our newsletter covers the latest technology and IT news from Scotland and beyond, as well as in-depth features and exclusive interviews with leading figures and rising stars.

To subscribe, click here.