Female leaders unite
at Girl Tech Leeds
to secure better opportunities
for the next generation

Girl Tech made its return to Leeds last week, marking its highly anticipated comeback as the first in a series of digital insights days designed for young women – set to unfold in five major cities across the country this year.

The event brings together representatives from leading businesses in tech and innovation, along with dozens of female role models, to connect with young women across the UK. The initiative aims to inspire and inform its young participants about opportunities in the sector and help them discover their potential place within it.

Now into its eighth year, the Girl Tech initiative is designed and facilitated by social-value specialist Ahead Partnership to address significant gender disparities within tech and innovation, focusing much of its reach on young women who lack awareness or connections to this rapidly evolving sector, and providing them with the right tools to better access it.

The need for change is clear, with recent statistics from Women in Tech showing that only 29% of the tech industry in the UK are women; additionally, 76% of those women surveyed reported experiences of gender bias or discrimination in the workplace.

The initiative has sought to change these patterns through early intervention. By reaching a diverse collective of young women, and connecting them with inspirational female role-models and employers ahead of choosing their GCSE options, the event offers valuable opportunities for engagement at a pivotal time in their career journeys.

The event also provides participating businesses and female mentors with a unique platform to unite around common purpose – opening up new pathways for the next generation of young women, while securing a more diverse talent pipeline of the future – set to reduce bias and inequalities within the sector and within tech and digital professions and careers more broadly.

A recent study by PWC attests to the need for an early engagement approach – finding that too many young women aren’t considering a career in tech because it hasn’t been properly highlighted to them, because of a lack of female role models and a real lack of understanding about the sector. Only 27% of female students surveyed by PWC said that they would consider a career in technology, compared to 61% of males, and only 3% said that would be their first choice.

Girl Tech has begun to change this narrative, with feedback collated from previous events demonstrating the real impact that the initiative has driven for its attending young women. The event statistics show a general trend over the past three years of young women having an increased interest in exploring a career in digital, paired with a decreasing understanding of the skills required to work in the sector, prior to taking part in the Girl Tech initiative.

The programme has helped to combat this declining understanding and provide a platform to explore different careers in the sector. Results from the 2024 event showed that 94% of those who attended said they now understood the skills required to work in the digital sector, compared with 67% prior to the event. Additionally, 88% of attendees left saying that they were interested in pursuing a digital career.

The trend is clear: young women do show an early interest in digital careers, but need the right environment and role models to best facilitate this; statistics taken over a number of years at Girl Tech identify the continued impact of this type of approach.

Suzie Bell, Programme Manager at Ahead Partnership, said:

“Against increasing resistance and challenges to DE&I on an international scale, it is so encouraging to see some of the best and the brightest in tech and innovation banding together to secure better opportunities for the next generation of female talent, in what is set to be our biggest celebration of Girl Tech to date.

“We have seen our young participants grow significantly in their understanding and interest in the opportunities on offer within tech and digital here in Leeds, as well as within their own self- confidence through meeting successful women who have each had unique paths into the sector.

“With four more instalments of Girl Tech to come this year, returning to the West Midlands and launching in Manchester, London and the North East for the first time, the overarching impact for this programme cannot be understated. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with our partners in securing better opportunities for all young people, and creating a more diverse, and suitably skilled workforce of the future.”

Girl Tech is the flagship event in Ahead Partnership’s Growing Talent Digital Leeds programme, which reaches young people aged 10-18 years to encourage them to consider a career in digital – ultimately addressing specific skills gaps in the industry by creating a more diverse and appropriately skilled talent pipeline. This year’s Girl Tech was delivered with the support of several long-standing partners and employers, including headline sponsor Netcompany – whose support has helped to facilitate the UK expansion of the programme. Further sponsors included Optum, Liberty Blume and Sulzer.

Kate Watson, Social Value Lead, Netcompany UK said:

“It’s been a privilege to support Girl Tech from its origins to now, and we are particularly proud to have played a part in its journey of growth – now changing prospects for young women across the country.

“We have witnessed a real growth in interest and engagement with tech and digital career opportunities among this year’s participants in Leeds – an appetite which is vital if we want to meet the future demand of our rapidly evolving sector.

“With the rise of AI, increased global investment in technology, and constant industry change, equipping young people with the digital skills to thrive has never been more essential. Ensuring that all young people have access to the opportunities within our sector is key – and that’s why outreach and intervention is so important.

“Only 5% of leadership roles in tech are held by women. As business leaders, we have a responsibility to change this narrative and commit to paving a more inclusive path for the next generation, and for our industry alike.

At Netcompany this starts from within. We are dedicated to improving female representation with positive action schemes for recruitment and retention, such as ensuring at least one female interviewer for all female candidates and Inclusive Leadership training for all managers – the goal being to prevent  bias in progression and development.  Our female workforce influences business policy and culture via the Women in Netcompany Employee Resource Group whose recent achievements include improved maternity pay and a programme of female health awareness events. Events like Girl Tech are part of our wider commitment – to ensure the future of tech is shaped by a workforce that better reflects the society it serves.”

To find out more about Girl Tech, visit: https://www.aheadpartnership.org.uk/girl-tech/