WIREDGOV

Yesterday the Tech Talent Charter published its first annual benchmarking report, reporting on its signatories’ state of play on gender representation in technical roles; active diversity and inclusion policies; and shortlisting female talent at interviews.

There were a number of positive findings. Namely that Charter’s signatories were ahead of the curve in many respects. Signatories gender diversity averaged at 26.13%, steps ahead of wider tech averages which put female representation between 11% and 19%. Similarly, over 70.71% of signatories had active diversity and inclusion policies in place and an additional 27.27% planned to roll out such policies in the coming year. The gravitas with which signatories are honouring their commitments to diversity and inclusion is impressive and must be celebrated. But, whilst the Charter’s numbers are positive, it is clear gender parity is a way off and as the Charter enters into its next year we must push even harder as a sector to promote diversity.

The Charter does not push for blanket diversity and inclusion policies, nor does it attempt to reinvent the wheel on possible remedies. At techUK, we believe this is crucial to the success of the Charter and the spirit embedded in it.  No two companies are the same and therefore blanket approaches to diversity simply do not work. Similarly, the Charter’s promotion of collaboration and cross-industry learnings is invaluable to signatories. The community this creates of companies listening and learning from one another is exactly how we will achieve stronger gender diversity in tech.

techUK is a proud strategic partner and sponsor of the Charter. We were there at its inception have fully supported the organisation as it became independent and has started to grow and flourish. The Charter now has a footprint across thirteen different sectors and counting (demonstrated just how core digital is across the economy).  

The Charter represents the very best of our sector – our openness, willingness to learn from each other and collaborate with our competitors. 2018 was just the start of this journey and we look forward to all that 2019 holds!