Sarah Burnett, Vice President at Everest Group, and BCSWomen Deputy Chair, looks at what the IT industry could learn from the rise of women in UK politics.
The fact that Theresa May has been able to appoint seven women to the cabinet owes much to initiatives that encouraged women into politics supported at the highest executive level.
And of the 69 junior government and whips jobs announced this weekend, 15 went to women – at 22 per cent this is doing better than the number of senior tech jobs held by women (20 per cent), as found in the study by Mortimer Spinks with Computer Weekly, and lower than the near third of female appointments in the cabinet.
We are at a momentous turning point with Theresa May as a prime minister who is determined for this to be the start of women operating on a more even playing field and being role models to future generations.
We need the IT industry to learn from our leading politicians.
What has been our prime minister’s role in encouraging women to sit at the leadership table – and what can other industries learn from the changes we are seeing in politics?
