The number of women in the UK’s technology industry has been slowly increasing in the 11 years since Everywoman ran its first Tech Forum.
But there is still a lack of women at the top, with numbers collected by the Tech Talent Charter finding women made up only 21% of senior tech leaders in the UK within its signatories, and Frank Recruitment Group finding women only made up a quarter of CIO positions in FTSE 100 companies in 2023.
There are lots of reasons for this, as Everywoman co-founder Maxine Benson pointed out: “There are numerous challenges, such as the lack of female role models, impostor syndrome, issues around work-life balance and the lack of access to leadership roles, which must be addressed if we are to keep female talent in the technology space.”
Imposters and interlopers
Imposter syndrome, whereby the sufferer doubts their skills and abilities despite their previous accomplishments, is very common amongst women in the technology sector, and is more likely to occur in high-achieving individuals.
It can act as a barrier to success, with many women not applying for roles they are more than qualified for, or finding themselves afraid to speak up and express their opinions, however valid they may be.
Avril Chester, chief technology officer at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, admitted despite her now high rank in the technology sector, even to this day she gets racing thoughts and imposter syndrome, but she’s learning to live with it.
On the journey to senior management, Chester suggested listening to your gut – there’s a difference between feeling scared and uncomfortable and knowing what’s not the right move.
She said: “Not every moment is going to feel right. So when you listen to yourself, if your guts are telling you it’s not the right move, don’t do it. But if you find yourself in your thoughts … finding every excuse under the sun not to go into it, maybe you take that chance. Maybe you’ve learned from that chance.”
When aiming for a senior management position, Chester stated a step into any new role will be intimidating because it’s new, and individuals should be aware of whether they are their own barrier to success – advising people to utilise their “roar”, or in other words what makes you an individual.
As with any role, leadership comes with its own skillset, and your skills as an individual will determine what kind of leader you are.
Mivy James, digital transformation director and engineering fellow at BAE Systems Applied Intelligence, pointed out leadership traits are often described using masculine language – “alpha, masculine, extroverted behaviours”.
She described having felt “interloper syndrome” in the past and has tried to display these typically male traits to fit into a leadership role in the technology sector, but she ended up losing her sense of humour.
Instead, it’s more valuable to a company and to a team to bring your individuality to a role – there is no “one way to be a leader”.
As James said: “We need to have a true diversity and allow people to behave and be their authentic selves in those leadership roles.
“I’m a chief technology officer, so it turns out it’s okay to be a woman, and to be feminine, and to have that kind of career path.”
Diverse leaders
The speakers agreed there is a lack of diversity at the top of tech, which is impacting the trickle-down of diversity within organisations, and without an inclusive culture running throughout the firm, it becomes increasingly difficult to attract and retain diverse talent.
James stated the fact many believe male traits are more conducive to leadership is an example of how diversity in tech leadership is on a “superficial level” – firms will present outwardly as catering to different people’s needs, but there is no inclusion once you get there.
She said: “We need that diverse leadership because any type of decision-making needs to have a different set of voices, so anywhere there’s decision-making, you have that diversity. Otherwise, you end up with this groupthink, and a decision that only works for a small set of people.”
One of the reasons there is a lack of diversity at the top of tech firms is “affinity bias”, according to James, who stated many in a leadership role feel safer delegating and promoting people who are like them.
Chester shared some stories highlighting other biases and issues that can stand in the way of rising to leadership, including being told that while she was perfect for a job, she was in a “queue” as someone had been waiting longer for a promotion, and being asked how the firm could be sure she wouldn’t have a child soon that would interfere with her work as she was of a certain age.
When it comes to finding your leadership opportunities, many of the speakers described choosing the firm you work for carefully to suit your needs and leadership style, noting the people you work with will mean more than anything else.
Cheryl Razzell, UKIR head of compute solution architecture at Amazon Web Services, explained: “When I look to work for an organisation, I look at the leadership principles and try to understand what the values of the company are. I want to work for a company that brings out the best in me.”
Ultimately, people want to work with other good people, as Razzell put it: “Nobody wants to follow a leader that doesn’t inspire you. And it has to be genuine to be able to inspire others.”
The type of leader you are can determine whether you’re able to encourage those from underrepresented groups to join your team.
Razzell said: “We need more role models, we need more diversity, and we need intersectionality. So diversity, everyone talks about females in technology, but it’s more than that. It’s inclusivity of every type of group. And that includes, you know, the diversity of skin colour, and neurodiversity.”
Always learning
Success in the technology sector hinges on continuous learning; the nature of technology is to constantly change and adapt, meaning people’s skills have to as well.
It has become increasingly apparent in the past few years that continuous learning will be a huge part of ensuring everyone maintains their tech skills as technology adoption accelerates, but learning in general is also something that never stops in life.
Chiamaka Odikanwa, head of product management (CTO) at HSBC, said: “I remember years ago when I finished my final year master’s degree exams, and I was so happy because I was thinking to myself, ‘I’m done with exams, I don’t have to do this any more. There’ll be no more tests, learning is over’. And how wrong was I?”
Part of being a good leader, Chiamaka explained, is to facilitate learning and improvement by making it safe for employees to fail.
She does this by presenting her teams with the question: What can we learn?
“I like this question for two reasons. First, it doesn’t focus on the destination, it tells us that we are on a journey, and we can continue to improve,” she explained.
“The second reason I like this question is because it’s breaking out all the different behaviours that we want. We want our teams and ourselves to experiment more. We want to fail safely, have curiosity, innovation, psychological safety, leadership, and so much more. So this question is such an important way for us to start thinking deeply around how to bring our learnings into our worlds to really elevate team performance.”
Finally, Jo Churchley, head of delivery for infrastructure and platforms at SSE, claimed you’re likely to be a better manager and leader if you enjoy what you’re doing – and usually what you enjoy doing is what you’re good at.
The more people who want to work with you is a measure of how effective your leadership is, and once you’ve reached a good position in your career, Churchley advised to “pay a bit of that back”.
Whether that’s through mentoring, coaching, or nominating people for opportunities, part of the goal of good leadership is to lift others behind you.
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