There has been a marked increase in the number of women working in tech, having risen from 18% to 23.4% over the past two years, according to the latest ONS Annual Population Survey.

Since 2010, the figure has more than doubled, rising from 10,300 women working in tech up to 24,000 in 2018. Skills Development Scotland announced the findings on Ada Lovelace Day, a global celebration of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

The day is named in honour of Lovelace, who is often considered to be the world’s first ever computer programmer. Having shown a gift for mathematics at a young age, Lovelace introduced many computer concepts and is viewed a pioneer in the field.

Organisations Cannot Rest on Their Laurels

Claire Gillespie, sector manager for Digital Technologies at SDS, welcomed the results saying that they show what partnership working can really achieve. “Industry, government, educationalists and charity organisations have all been working together to try and address the gender imbalance, and our concerted efforts are starting bear digital fruit,” she enthused.

However, Gillespie added that much more still needs to be done. “Complacency will be the enemy of progress ,” she warned. “The last thing we need is to take three steps forward and two steps back when tackling this very real and problematic issue.”

“We look forward to continuing our work with organisations like Girl Geek Scotland, Education Scotland, Equate, Scottish Government, ScotlandIS and, of course, the wider industry to help fill the 13,000 digital vacancies that exist in Scotland every year.”

In the coming year SDS has several specific diversity plans, which includes encouraging mentoring and case studies, working partnership with the charity sector to target young females, and to continue promoting and creating digital apprenticeships.