Thousands of women in tech leave their roles each year

A lack of opportunity for progression is a main reason why women are leaving the technology sector, according to the Lovelace report.

Research by Oliver Wyman and WeAreTechWomen found that between 40,000 and 60,000 women are leaving digital roles each year, whether for other tech roles or to leave tech for good, with a quarter stating the reason to be a lack of opportunity to advance their career in their current roles.

Deborah O’Neill, partner at Oliver Wyman, said the drop in women in the technology industry is usually put down to childcare issues, but really it is more about an unlevel playing field preventing them from advancing in the tech workplace.

“That’s not just a statistic, that is a loss – potential lost innovation, lost opportunities – for this country and for all of our organisations,” said O’Neill. “How can we have a world where everyone wants to deliver these big, ambitious programmes, but women are saying, ‘There’s no way for me to advance’? Something doesn’t add up here.”

Women account for around 20% of the technology sector in the UK, but this number falls when looking higher up in organisations. The report quoted figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) showing the number of men working in information and communications increased 11.5% in the past five years, while the number of women working in the same sector decreased 7% in the same amount of time.

Karen Blake, head of strategy and consulting at Powered by Diversity, said the UK is “hardcoding bias” into technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) by preventing women the opportunity to contribute, adding: “We are systemically driving away the talent we need most. Inequality doesn’t just hurt individuals, it creates a sluggish environment that drags down our entire national progress...This goes deeper than economics. We’re bringing women up systemically excluded from leadership and career frameworks. We’re hardcoding bias into the future itself.”

A lack of flexible working, a lack of role models, misconceptions about what tech jobs involve and being deterred from relevant subjects at school are often-cited reasons why women leave the tech sector or avoid it altogether, and while these are important to note, the Lovelace report has painted a different, more up-to-date picture.

Only 3% of women who contributed to the Lovelace report stated childcare as the reason they chose to leave the technology sector, which is a much lower number than usually cited – in fact, 55% of those asked had no children or dependants.

Half of the respondents were earning less than average for their roles, and 60% said they were finding it very difficult to find their way into leadership. But this isn’t down to a lack of experience or expertise, with 60% of those asked having 10 years or more of tech experience, and more than 70% having gained additional qualifications and leadership training.

Instead, the report referred to the “mid-career” point in a traditional pyramid organisational structure being a “bottleneck” for most women in tech. Closely following “lack of career progression” as the main reason as to why women are moving roles or sectors was “a lack of recognition and low salaries”.

Almost 10% said the reason they are leaving their current role is because of poor company culture, while 8% said they feel held back by a lack of role models, sponsors or a supportive network.

More than half of the women who took part in the report said their career progression has not advanced in the way they thought it would, with women waiting an average of three or four years for a promotion, whereas the industry average is usually two years.

Vanessa Vallely, founder and CEO of WeAreTechWomen, said the barriers she has faced in her extensive career are the same many women are still facing now, and the industry should be more concerned with retaining and promoting female talent.

“[Women are] walking away from systems that fail to see them, reward them or provide a future that they can believe in. Mid-level women are waiting over five years for a promotion,” said Vallely. “Over 60% of experienced women are earning below their industry benchmark. Nearly 80% are considering leaving their roles, and these are women who have spent 10, 15, 20 years building their careers and their resilience.”

But this isn’t just a problem for women, it’s also a problem for organisations and the economy during a time where the UK is pushing to be a technology superpower, the report stated. The tech industry is currently lacking between 98,000 and 120,000 skilled professionals, which is a number likely to increase in the wake of fast-paced technology adoption such as AI.

This number is exacerbated by the vast number of women leaving the industry, which is costing the economy between £1.4bn and £2.2bn every year, and between £640m and £1.3bn is wasted every year when women jump between employers looking for a place where they can gain the advancement and recognition they’re looking for in a role.  

To address some of these issues, the report called for organisations to assess whether they are causing “career stagnation” for women, and to tackle it by putting clear advancement paths in place, ensure opportunities are provided to the most skilled workers, and making sure career ladders have visible and defined requirements with equal pay opportunities.

At the report’s launch, Samantha Niblett, member of the women and equalities select committee, urged the tech sector to keep “pushing politicians” to help develop legislation that will help change the workplace, adding: “If you’re working in the tech sector, don’t give up, don’t move, don’t shift: change it.”