Removing the barriers

04 December, 2018

With women representing just 16% of those in IT, Trudy Norris-Grey, WISE chair and Microsoft managing director, said that the step closer to 1 million women in STEM is “fantastic”. However, she maintains there is much more to be done in the technology industry as it is not making the progress that is being seen elsewhere in STEM industries.

“Faced with a huge growth in demand for technology skills in every sector of the economy, we have to increase the number of women working in tech or face a severe skills shortage,” she said. “We don’t want women to lose out on future jobs and nor can business afford to lose out on their talents and contribution.”

Wollaston explained that a girl studying A level Electronics told WISE recently that she felt her generation was on the cusp of finding new and better ways of creating things – in a sustainable way. And, as she concluded at the Awards, science and engineering and tech are fundamental to the future of the planet, and we need women to take their rightful place in creating that new future.

Ed Holden

Editor