Up to 20,000 black women are “missing” from tech companies in the UK, according to a joint report from media and trade unions.
The report said the number of black women in IT was two and a half times lower than the UK workforce as a whole. The campaign group Coding Black Females said technology is “desperately” for people of all backgrounds.
The industry recognizes that “more needs to be done” to support diversity. Analyzing data from the Office of National Statistics, the authors of the Coding Black Females (CBF) and BCS report found that black women make up 1.8% of the UK workforce, but only 0.7% of those working in technology.
An additional 20,000 black women will need to be recruited on top of the 12,000 working in IT to fill the gap. He said that women are not represented in government positions. In 2021, only 17% of CIOs will be women, according to the report. The report states that while the representation of ethnic minorities is generally higher among IT professionals than in the general workforce, this is largely due to the high number of technical experts at work. Bitcoin Price Broke Out This Week, But Has The Trend Changed?
“I’m the only one in the room”
The authors also sought to identify Black women’s experiences in the industry through in-depth research and interviews. Siba Munsanje, a software engineer at Deloitte, told the researchers, “You have to know that you are the only one in the team room, in the project, in the conference.”
Nicola Martin, director of quality engineering at Adaga, a UK-based artificial intelligence software company, said: “Now that the numbers are coming out in different forms and technologies, we can see that there is still has a lot of work to do. “Technology companies need to support different parties to make sure that people want to stay in the company.”
The report asked 350 black women to share their experiences.
Respondents felt that more needs to be done to empower black women – including working with communities to raise awareness of opportunities. Some women said that the interview process and workplace culture will exclude applicants. One respondent quoted in the article said the “tech bro” culture is boring. Charlene Hunter, director of the CBF, told the BBC that the women’s experiences showed that there are still barriers to access to work in technology. 카지노사이트 추천
“You often hear stories of people applying for jobs and not really getting any response. You know you meet all the requirements, but something is wrong.”
But the difference is not only in the number of employees, but also in their job opportunities.
“We need leaders to align with the large number of black women who are currently emerging in technology and media engineering, with real opportunities to advance into rewarding careers, ” said Ms. Hunter. He is particularly interested in the development of artificial intelligence – there are fears that AI systems may show prejudice against different races and genders.
Greater diversity at the executive level will help ensure that bias thinking is “incorporated into all aspects of your planning process”. Rashik Parmar, CEO of BCS, an IT industry group, said: “We can build systems that serve everyone if different types of people are represented in the workforce. creates and builds these systems.” China Requested Vaccine Technology Disclosure, but Moderna Declined
Nimmi Patel, of trade group Tech UK, said that while steps were being taken to support diversity and inclusion in the tech workforce, “it’s clear more needs to be done”.
“Companies and governments need to work together to inspire, educate and attract diverse talent to ensure that black women – and women in general – enter and thrive in the industry,” she said.