Tecman’s Girls in Tech Career Discovery Day a Great Success!

Did you know that according to a study by NatWest Group, by 2025 the UK’s tech market is predicted to be six times larger than it is today and will be worth £30 billion? Yet the UK already has a large skills gap when it comes to tech roles.

For every 115 new roles in 2025 there will only be one qualified woman.

This needs to change and we want to help!

We’ve always strived for a diverse workforce, creating an environment that our team thrive in. It’s why we’ve been recognised as a UK Best Workplace for several years, and for the last two years we were also recognised as one of the UK’s Best Workplaces for Women by Great Place to Work.  We recognise the need to grow the tech workforce and especially focus on attracting women into the industry – one that’s currently seen as being male-dominated.

But there’s little point just moaning about the lack of women.

Instead, we want to take action and inspire the next generation, educating girls about the roles out there and the options they have. Tech jobs aren’t limited to being part of IT support asking “have you tried turning it on and off again?” Or that they’re all about coding. There is so much more to tech than this and IT roles can open the door to an exciting and rewarding career.

The lack of understanding and a lack of confidence can make paths to these career options feel closed off for teenage girls. In the study by NatWest Group, 88% of girls achieved A* - C in STEM subjects (4% higher than boys), yet only 35% of STEM students in higher education are female, and this number drops to just 19% when looking at those studying computer science.

This is why we organised our dedicated Girls in Tech Career Discovery Day at our offices in Wolverhampton for girls from local secondary schools. We involved female role models from our team to lead sessions and workshops to show:

• What we do here at Tecman and the different roles our female staff fulfil across the organisation
• The exciting options available when it comes to tech careers
• How not every tech job consists of coding
• How tech roles are ideal for logical thinkers and problem solvers
• Why a career in tech can bring instant rewards

In total, we welcomed 29 bright pupils from Wolverhampton Grammar School and Smestow Academy, each armed with a delightful Tecman goodie bag, and ready for a day filled with engaging and interactive sessions with our expert teams.

The theme for the day was our customer, Border Biscuits, and this was for two main reasons; one, who doesn’t love a good biscuit, and two, we wanted to help tell the story of what we do. The world of Microsoft Dynamics 365 is much easier to understand with a little bit of context and we thought Border Biscuits was an excellent example to use when explaining what we do and how the right business software can make a huge difference.

We embarked on a journey through the history of computer science, starting way back at the very beginning in the 1800s with Ada Lovelace. Notable women from the world of science and technology were mentioned, including the incredible Judith Love Cohen – an engineer whose Abort Guidance System helped Apollo 13’s astronauts navigate their way back to Earth after disaster struck.

From here, our sessions spanned a wide variety, from hands-on experiences with our barcode scanning apps to navigating the intricate world of Support roles through an escape room challenge, after all, our Support Consultants use their problem-solving skills on a daily basis. We even explored the world of project management, using biscuit production as a creative backdrop, demonstrating the balance of time and cost.

Tech offers a diverse range of career opportunities, and our aim was to shine a light on the skill sets required for each role, sparking interest in areas based on the pupils’ existing interests and strengths.

Do you revel in problem-solving? Perhaps you have a future as a support consultant. Being super organised and being a leader in your group more your thing? Perhaps a career in project management is your calling. If you have a curious mind and an interest in deciphering how things work, a role as a developer could be your path. Thrive on diving into diverse projects? Consultancy might be your niche.

Through these interactive sessions, we provided an invaluable opportunity for the students from Smestow Academy and Wolverhampton Grammar School to embark on a journey of through just some of the roles in tech. We aimed to widen their horizons, revealing the possibilities that the world of tech holds.

Prior to our Girls in Tech Career Discovery Day, only 26% of the girls considered a career in the tech industry. However, after the event, this percentage had increased to 63%! We’re incredibly proud to have helped change the perception of tech jobs but we know there is still more to do. We will continue to run days like this and provide more girls with the opportunity to see what options are out there for them.

If your school would like to be involved with our future events please do get in touch, and we’ll make sure you are on our mailing list to receive your invite.

Watch this space for our 2024 Girls in tech Career Discovery Days!