DDaT Women in Tech Programme
Published 23 January 2024
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The Home Office DDaT Women in Tech programme is addressing the under-representation of women in technology (currently at an estimated 17%) by dealing with the barriers women face and enabling them to develop the skill sets and behaviours to achieve their potential.
We are further seeking to create a culture that supports women’s progression in tech within DDaT and contributes to closing the Gender Pay Gap.
With 15 to 20 million people working in the technology sector in 2023:
- 26% are women (19% in 2019)
- 5% of leadership positions held by women
Sources:
Women in Technology: Women in Tech Survey 2023 - Women in Technology
TechUK: Celebrating the change women are making in the tech industry (techuk.org)
Increasing diversity and the feeling of inclusion is a core ambition for the Home Office, DDaT and the Civil Service, ensuring we represent and best serve a modern Britain.
We will all do this better with cross-government discussion and external support.
We have 3 workstreams:
1. Recruitment and Retention
2. Training and Development
3. Allyship
Recruitment and Retention
We are reviewing our recruitment campaigns following on from very successful workshops where we:
- presented our DDaT job profession descriptions to UK tech industry partners and recruitment partners to learn from how they attract female candidates. Find out more in the DDaT blog
- used the feedback to transform the format and language in our job descriptions to make them more accessible
We are reviewing our retention processes. These are pivotal to ensuring we equip women with the right skillset to succeed and will enable the cultural and behavioural change to support that progression.
This year we are establishing an outreach programme, working with National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to learn from how their Cyber First initiative increased representation of women in cyber to 35%.
The tech industry moves on so quickly this year we also establishing a Woman Returners programme for women returning to work after absence. This programme will be concentrated on refreshing their skillset and building their confidence.
Women in Tech talk
Find out what it is like doing different roles in tech as a woman, and watch these Home Office DDaT colleagues talk about their jobs.
Eva, principal engineer
Roisin, devops engineer
Charlotte, front end developer
Charlotte; front end developer
Emily, associate software developer
Emily; associate software developer
Suzanne, principal engineer
Training and Development
We have run workshops on imposter syndrome and on gender confidence (working with Microsoft).
This has lead to our ambition to now establish a cohesive programme of training and development including a specialist women’s coaching and mentoring exchange (working with Sopra Steria).
Allyship
Our newly established Allyship network will support and elevate women in the workplace, contributing to behavioural and cultural change.
Allyship objectives:
- build a visible network of active allies who are well equipped, supported, and confident to challenge
- contribute to a positive culture for the wider organisation, through education and empowerment at all levels
- redress the balance of women in technology-related roles by providing opportunities and encouraging growth at all levels
- actively embed allyship into the HO Bullying Harassment Discrimination and Victimisation strategy
Get involved
We are working with multiple external partners including:
- cross-government departments to share best practice, knowledge and current challenges
- UK tech industry who sponsor our events, host conferences and share knowledge
If you would like to be involved or know more, contact: ddatwomenintech@homeoffice.gov.uk