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Home Digital The importance of promoting women in tech

The importance of promoting women in tech

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The importance of promoting women in tech

From Joanna Pope, Head of Client Services at Enjoy Digital

What inspired you to get involved in the She Does Digital organisation?I’d been aware of SDD through working in the industry and had attended a few of their events in the past.For me personally though, the key driver for getting involved was reflecting on my own career, and how close I was to never having it! I was fortunate that I found my way into digital through chance and now have a successful career that I truly enjoy, gives me balance and ultimately facilitates the lifestyle I loved. But before that I had very little awareness of what I now do in terms of even being a career path, let alone knowing how to get into the industry if I had known.


What events have She Does Digital held to promote awareness of the digital skills gap? 

We’ve held various events over the years either as stand alone events like our upcoming “Where did you start? LIVE” to events as part of festivals or as wider collaborations.


Some key examples:


She does Speed Networking – a facilitated speed networking event as part of Leeds Digital festival in 2022. This event aimed to connect industry professionals with people considering a career in digital. We had students and some career changers attend and it was great to see them discussing opportunities with people spreading in the industry. All through a facilitated networking structure that encouraged integration between those in the room through s series of icebreaker questions, matching mechanics and discussion prompts.

She does Hey! –  collaborative event we hosted with Hey! Presents https://heypresents.com/ before the pandemic. This was a panellist event for open discussion with a focus on changing career paths with a Q&A.


Recording for context https://youtu.be/nhT2V10NbR0

University collaborations – over the years we’ve hosted events at university student unions specifically for students with the aim of raising awareness of digital career paths. I was a member of the panel representing the client services side of things at our last event where we had a panel made up of different digital specialisms so the attendees could get a sense of the wide (and ever expanding!) variety of digital careers there are out there.

Our ‘Where did you start? LIVE’ event is a real life version of our where did you start blog series. The event is free to attend and takes place 6pm on 11th May at Clockwise in Leeds (kindly sponsored by Enjoy!).


How do you think the digital skills sector will benefit from closing the skills gap for women?


For me personally it’s about ensuring women know about and have an equal opportunity to forge a career in digital, and ensuring that we hero female role models to inspire future workforce – be that in leadership, technical, creative, delivery, performance or experiential roles.We know there’s a digital skills gap when it comes to females and we know that by increasing diversity in tech, companies can access a broader range of perspectives. Differing experiences, views and perspectives and ideas can lead to better problem-solving and innovation.


There’s evidence to show that businesses who have diverse workforces have been shown to drive more innovative solutions, yielding higher revenue and the opportunity to drive more profit. Reference:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesinsights/2020/01/15/diversity-confirmed-to-boost-innovation-and-financial-results/


What can businesses do to support closing the digital skills gap for women?

Hero your female role models. Tell their stories, support them and be proud of them.

Partner with schools/universities to provide advice, mentoring and opportunities to students.

Create a culture that welcomes diversity supported by solid development and learning plans.

The cultural piece is key and is much deeper than having a solid PDP. Encourage collaboration, cross team activities, human interactions and give your team the time to get to know and appreciate each other in order to understand how to drive the best outcomes collaboratively.

Support initiatives like She Does Digital. We’re a volunteer group that’s not for profit. We rely on support through sponsorships at times – like the sponsorship Enjoy are providing for our next event.

What advice would you give to women looking to pursue a career in the digital industry?


If you’re thinking about it just do it! There are so many paths you can take with it that there will always be an opportunity to evolve your career into the areas you love as you become more familiar with what digital has to offer your career.My biggest advice (that I still have to remind myself of!) would be believe in yourself and never beat yourself up over ‘failure’. Pick yourself up, believe in yourself enough to own it, and most importantly learn from it so you continuously improve yourself and refine the direction you’re going in.

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