Breaking down barriers for women to enter tech careers: Carole Roberts

During the session we hoped to empower women working in the technology industry and inspire those considering a role in tech to take the first step.

Alongside myself, the panel on Monday at an event entitled ‘Demystifying the barriers for women in digital’ included Yasmin De Nardo, who is Head of Connected Technology Academy at KPMG, Goodness Ngodigha, a Data Scientist at Cognizant, and Sarah Tulip, who is founder of WILD Digital.

Throughout my career, coaching and mentoring others has been a top priority for me, and I believe in supporting other women to enable them to smash glass ceilings.

Diversity is important in every aspect of life, and I am passionate about inspiring more women to embark on a career in tech.

To make the industry more inclusive and diverse, we must first ensure that we are attracting the right people into our teams.

When thinking about diversity, research indicates that diversity of thought has a significant benefit in building strong and successful teams.

As a leader, it is important to me that we celebrate all our differences and the unique perspectives that colleagues bring to their roles.

In the same vein, it is important that women feel empowered to share their point of view and ensure their voices are heard.

Within the tech industry just 26 per cent of the workforce are women.

At Leeds Building Society, the figure is slightly higher at 30 per cent, but there is still work to do.

Across the country, a recent study by Tech Nation and Harmonic Finance found that of the tech companies for which leadership data was available just nine per cent of C-Suite leaders in tech companies were female.

Only three per cent of Chief Technology Officers or Technical Director roles were held by women, while just 0.6 per cent of Chief Operating Officer and 0.4 per cent of Chief Financial Officer roles were held by women.

As Harmonic Group founder Charlie Walker put it in response to those statistics, “This, clearly, is not good enough”.

We are keen to encourage more women to join our growing teams.

As one of the sponsors of the Leeds Building Society Gender Diversity Forum I feel passionately that we need more female role models to pioneer for change and open up opportunities for more women who are considering a career in technology.

During the panel discussion, we explored how employers can help break down barriers and remove blockers in career progression that are preventing businesses from attracting women into their top tech roles.

Our panel included women who have faced and conquered issues as they have risen through the ranks who told their stories and shared advice to further the careers of others in similar positions.

Carole Roberts is Director of Data at Leeds Building Society