ANALYSIS & OPINION: FTTH IN EUROPE
THE DIVERSITY CHALLENGE
HOW DO WE FIX THE GENDER DISPARITY IN TECH IN 2022? CRISSI WILLIAMS I
t’s an issue which is not going away. Te gender gap in our industry is widening. According to the WISE campaign for gender equality in STEM, only 24 per cent of women
hold STEM roles and only 28 per cent of board members are female. In a year where employers face the reported
‘great resignation’, and as our industry continues to develop at pace, we are facing a shortage of skilled workers needed to keep our industry growing.
Where does disparity begin? Tis trend starts as far back as the classroom. We know that gender stereotypes are formed at a young age, and children can easily find themselves pigeon-holed. STEM subjects should be introduced from reception age, long before young people even think about careers at school. Learning STEM subjects with a hands-on approach is not only fun for children, but can help them to develop a passion for the subject from an early age. We know that female students are lost on the
STEM pathways by the time they reach GCSE or A-level. Why should this be the case? Could it be the distinct lack of female role models in this space? PWC’s Women in Tech report suggests so. It found that only 3 per cent of females list tech as their first career choice and a further 78
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per cent couldn’t name a famous female working in technology. Te issue continues within higher education setings and universities. Only 35 per cent of STEM students in higher education in the UK are women, according to STEM Women. Te talent pipeline for future employers truly
begins in the classroom, where more emphasis is needed. Te PWC report also highlighted that more than half of females surveyed were driven by a career that would make a positive difference to the world. In an industry making a huge impact for good, surely this is another missed opportunity to inspire the next generation?
Challenging perceptions We, along with many partner organisations, have found that barriers exist at every turn. Job titles and specific wording in recruitment adverts can have a detrimental effect and put off potential candidates. We recently worked with Vorboss to help them recruit 150 fibre engineers (or customer connections specialists, as they later became known). Tey set a target that half of these should be female. We soon discovered that by re-writing job titles, and job descriptions, we could atract some amazing candidates. Tese candidates would have traditionally overlooked the role simply because the job title contained the word ‘engineer’. Te onus is also on employers to scrap their
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