Plugging the gender diversity gap to ensure lasting change

Theresa Palmer, Global Head of DE&I at BAE Systems Digital Intelligence, analyses the state of gender diversity within the technology industry.

Although it has long been central to the diversity conversation in the tech sector, gender disparity continues to be an issue. According to Tech Talent Charter’s annual 2024 ‘Diversity in Tech’ report, women and non-binary employees account for 29% of the UK tech workforce – a mere 1% increase compared to last year. The good news is that this figure bucks a broader UK industry trend where the number of women in tech is decreasing.

But, while it is still the highest proportion of women and gender minorities recorded in the industry since Tech Talent Charter started collating data in 2020, this number falls when we take a closer look at specific roles. For example, women or non-binary individuals account for just 20% of software engineers and 21% of senior tech leadership, with the latter falling by 1% from 2023.

The report also found that 1 in 3 women in tech are planning to leave their job, meaning any small gain may soon be lost. This could be partly driven by issues such as the worsening gender pay gap and companies discarding their DE&I work.

Closing the gender gap

In many organisations, female career progression begins to stall at the mid-point of their careers, sometimes linked to returning to the workplace after welcoming a child. Whatever the influence, the end result is fewer women progressing into senior roles and staying at their organisation long-term. At BAE Systems Digital Intelligence, we spend considerable time looking for the leaky valve and supporting women early in their careers to ensure they feel empowered to push for more senior roles.

It’s not an easy problem to fix. Changing an organisation’s underlying values, culture, policy and practice requires a committed effort. And often the people required to drive change are middle managers loaded with responsibility and short of time. That’s partly why many fall into the trap of simply copying other organisations and failing to recognise that every organisation is unique.

Addressing the lack of significant change in DE&I should be approached like any other business challenge. That means identifying the problem, developing a solution and then implementing it – all while engaging with employees to ensure the problem is fully understood and the solution is fit-for-purpose. Once developed, it should be evaluated repeatedly to allow for continuous improvement.

Building change that lasts

DE&I isn’t about boosting numbers through quick fix solutions. Driving impactful, long-term transformation requires continues investment and a focus on three core elements: repeatability, sustainability and scalability:

Is the initiative repeatable in a way that will continue to add value to your organisation?

Is the initiative sustainable long-term? Does it sit within a function with a specific owner? Will it be looked after and enhanced over time?

Finally, is it scalable? Can it be implemented in more business areas and/or regions?

Following these steps across one area of focus will provide a process that can be reused for similar topics, thereby reducing time to market and ultimately adding value. These three elements will help ensure that the business is owning DE&I, being proactive in driving future change with planned intent, and listening to feedback along the way. They have certainly helped us at BAE Systems Digital Intelligence as we strive to foster a culture of inclusion, equity and belonging where people can reach their full potential and see themselves reflected, supported and celebrated at all levels of our organisation.

But there’s still plenty more work to be done if we as an ecosystem want to accelerate progress and showcase the tech sector as an exciting, supportive and inclusive industry.