This new report shows the shocking lack of #diversity in the #tech world.

5 min readFeb 6, 2020

Debbie Forster on https://www.computerworld.com/article/3514589/tech-talent-charter-lays-out-2020-plan-to-make-uk-tech-more-inclusive.html

It was really nice to be asked to be on the TechForGoodLive podcast in Manchester. Not only as a great organisation — who’s values I really ascribe too personally. But also as it was great timings as a new report — shows the shocking lack of diversity still in tech.

This is after years of campaigning. And trying to change how STEM subjects are perceived. And how many women and POC take up careers in technology companies. But as reported in Computer World….

“Women still hold less than 20 percent of technical roles in the UK and only 35 percent of STEM students in higher education are female.”

WHAT CAN WE ALL DO?

As an investor in a Manchester based tech company HR /recruitment tool FLOCK. I know how hard it is to find a good to great female CTO in Manchester. This is not JUST because of the lack of talent pool. But also as every good tech company knows how important it is to have a diverse team.

In FLOCK — more than 50% of our board are female, 50% is owned by second generation immigrants or POC. We even have a span of ages. We have a very diverse team. But NOT with our coders or designers. And for a SAAS product this is a key importance.

We are NOT the only people to care about diversity in tech. And so there are many great Manchester and north west organisations that are championing this cause.

Not just individuals like

- Kirsty Devlin who has started ReCode.

- Vimla Appadoo — now with Digital Bridge.

- And Emer Coleman

The latter being the ex boss of The Federation (where the podcast was recorded) now with UP Accelerator. Who are working with The Landing in MediaCityUK. To produce diverse led and inclusive thinking in our accelerators and incubators.

But also organisations and campaigns like:

- Tech Returners, run by the award winning and wonderful Beckie Taylor — also started at The Landing.

- CodeLikeAGirl — with Vodafone nationwide.

- AND legends like Innovate Her in the North West.

Who vision is to get girls ready for the tech industry, and the industry ready for girls. This great organisation — who I have personally been a bit of a fanboy for ages — is amazing as… They:

“equip girls aged 12–16 with the self-belief, confidence and skills to pursue a career in technology through our educational programme, whilst working with digital and tech companies to create inclusive workplaces for them to work within.”

So many people are behind this drive to make the tech world a more diverse and inclusive place. Myself included. So one question that has to be asked is WHY? Why care to do all this….

BUT WHY CARE?

One of the key reasons is that strangely enough employees of tech companies care about this very issue. So when Atlassian, the maker of cool and powerful tools like Jira did a survey the State of Diversity and Inclusion in U.S. Tech.

“80% of the respondents think that diversity and inclusion are important to the tech industry.”

SO this isn’t just a movement outside of an industry that doesn’t care about it. Tech does. Unlike let’s say sectors like banking — which can say they care and not really change. Why would tech companies really care about diversity?

There are many reasons why coded companies and those in tech should care about diversity. Not just in people but diversity in thought.

So here are my 7 favourites…

1. Diversity leads to better financial performance

2. Looking for diverse candidates helps you get the best talent

3. Diversity in tech increases employee engagement

4. You can retain your best employees with a diverse workplace

5. Your developers are more satisfied in a diverse environment

6. Diverse teams do better work and build better products

7. Diversity makes your team more creative, innovative and productive

This latter point is something I have found at The Landing. As the team has become more diverse so we have become more creative, innovate and productive. And at The Landing we don’t just do it for financial objectives and to get more investment. At The Landing we are diverse for a moral reason and for our social impact. We are also are backed by Salford Council who know how important diversity is for society.

So at The Landing we are lucky to have a great female strong team — with more than 50% of us being female (No…I know not me…). And we are holding more and more accelerators where diversity plays a role in the application process. And in sectors that are more appealing to female founders.

Which has meant like with our #GMFutureOfHealth accelerator more than 30% of the companies were founded by (not just coded by) women. Which proves that the health tech sector cares even if others don’t.

SOME OF THE TECH WORLD CARES.

And it’s not just the tech world. The government does too. As in September 2019, the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport announced a third round of funding for The Tech Charter. Contributing more than £350,000 in support of the Charter and making it a part of the UK Government’s Digital Strategy.

This not-for-profit just released its second diversity in tech benchmarking report. Just this week. With statistics and insights gathered from the 300-plus companies and over 70,000 employees. Where they found that….

“Across TTC’s signatories, women hold 24 percent of technical roles, compared with the UK average of 16 percent. Within the Charter’s micro-companies, defined as companies with one to nine employees, women hold 42 percent of technical roles”.

Which is kinda why I like working with small micro tech companies in Greater Manchester with The Landing — with part of my role there being helping them to grow. As it is EXACTLY this types of companies that DO hire diversely more often.

SIZE IS IMPORTANT….

As said for FLOCK — a small HR tech start up in Manchester — it’s an actual desire of the board and the CEO (see here…) AS we WANT to hire more diversely.

But how do you do that?

For some it’s as simple as one of the Tech Talent Charter pledges which involves adopting inclusive recruitment processes i.e.

“making sure job adverts are gender neutral and that all interview panels have at least one man and woman on it, for example.”

For FLOCK and those that use FLOCK — it goes a bit deeper. AS you hire and manage people based on their VALUES. So your team has shared values. Not the same culture or the same age, or race, or economic background but something deeper. A shared world views. Which makes for strong teams.

We are kinda hoping that this piece of technology makes a difference. It’s all about #TechForGood. But you would expect that from me….