TCS Spark Salon on advancing Women in IT

On 19th June 2018, The Spark Salon, an initiative of Tata Consultancy Services, hosted a panel debate to discuss ‘Advancing the Conversation on Gender: What’s Next for Women in the Tech?’. Hosted at the TCS HQ in London, the panel comprised Parvati Raghuram is Professor in Geography and Migration at the Open University; Debbie Forster MBE, CEO at Tech Talent Charter and Ruben Kostucki, COO of Makers Academy.

“Conversations around why comparatively few women choose careers in technology have become commonplace, with tech companies, nonprofits and governments creating a raft of different initiatives to increase the number of women in the industry,” said Parvati Raghuram, “there is now greater awareness and discussion around this issue, but the numbers are slow to change with only slightly more women graduating in STEM subjects, in senior positions or on boards of technology companies in the UK.”

The issues are far reaching and can be seen from young women having less aspiration to work in the tech sector than their male peers, to lower salaries and less chance of advancement for women already in the industry. Then there is the gender funding gap in investment for female tech founders and, at some companies, a hostile working environment which can mean anything from lack of HR policies around maternity leave to unchallenged sexual harassment in the workplace. While younger women are progressing their careers by taking overseas job postings, more senior women are less likely to do so. Older women are also under-represented in most companies, meaning senior levels are still dominated by men.

The panel explored the structural barriers facing women in the tech industry and how to address them, the social norms and behaviours that need to be challenged and the role of men in this journey. It also suggested mechanisms to increase diversity in the tech industry and close the gender gap?,

Gender, Skilled Migration and IT: A Comparative Study of India and The UK

The 2018 Women in IT Scorecard- India, launched in March provides data on women’s employment patterns and leadership pathways within the India industry and situates it in a global context. It lays the foundation for understanding the similarities and differences between women’s participation in the IT sector in India and the UK.

Information Technology has become the flagship industry underlying India’s recent presence on the global stage. Perhaps surprisingly, what is also notable is the relatively high and increasing numbers of women in IT in India in comparison to the small and falling numbers of women in this sector in the Western world.

Women constitute over 25% of the Indian IT workforce. The UK figure is under 16%.

Women’s participation in the IT workforce in India is on an increase, while steep decline in Western and OECD countries is clearly evident.

Through a multidisciplinary, comparative analysis across the two countries, and of the experiences of migrants, two significant but separate fields of academic research are brought together. The GSM -IT team comprises Parvati Raghuram is a Professor of Geography and Migration at the Open University and the Director of the OpenSpace Research Centre; Clem Herman is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Computing and Communications at the Open University; Esther Ruiz Ben, a Research Associate within the Department of Geography at the Open University and Gunjan Sondhi, a Research Associate within the Department of Geography at the Open University.

For further information visit http://www.gsm-it.com/

About the Speakers at the TCS Spark Salon

Parvati Raghuram, The Open University

Parvati Raghuram is Professor in Geography and Migration at the Open University. She has published widely on gender, migration and development and on postcolonial theory. Her most recent ESRC funded project is titled Gender, skilled migration and the IT sector: a comparative study of India and the UK.

Debbie Forster, MBE, Tech Talent Charter

Debbie Forster is a recognised figure in the areas of diversity, tech, innovation and education, and is CEO of the Tech Talent Charter, an industry collective which aims to deliver greater gender diversity in the UK tech workforce. Prior to the TTC, Debbie gained attention as the Co-CEO of tech charity Apps for Good.

Ruben Kostucki, Makers Academy

Ruben Kostucki is a founding member and COO of Makers Academy, Europe’s #1 software engineering bootcamp. He’s been in the business since before the launch and has been instrumental in taking the organisation from just an idea to training 1,500+ people and servicing household names like Tesco, Santander, British Gas or the FT.

About The Spark Salon

The Spark Salon, an initiative of Tata Consultancy Services, showcases innovative and thought provoking new perspectives on the role of technology in helping to create a sustainable world.