The sector needs to work on its image, jettison stereotypes and present a more positive image to the female workforce, argues Polly Purvis, Chief Executive of ScotlandIS.

I am always staggered that we are unable to attract and retain more women in the digital technologies industry. It’s such a vibrant place with the power to really change the world and offers so many opportunities. The industry suffers from outdated stereotypes of inward looking businesses with a predominantly scruffy male workforce working on their own in darkened corners, and yet the reality is so different, and many firms are working hard to rectify that image.

Look around the Scottish tech community and you’ll find a creative industry which needs people that can work in teams, and combines high octane bursts of energy with time for planning and relaxing. Employers offer good salaries, flexible working options and a wide range of non-financial benefits from cycle to work schemes to child care vouchers (see ScotlandIS Salary Report 2016). You’ll also find some of the coolest working environments – bright, comfortable, welcoming spaces.

The new generation of technology companies combine a wide range of skills from digital marketing, account and product management, business consultants and analysts to software development, user experience (UX), cyber security and data science, and many of these roles are very attractive to women. If you look at companies like FreeAgent, Firefish Software, Administrate, the multinationals like Sopra Steria, CGI and Atos as well as high profile businesses such as Skyscanner, and FanDuel they all employ a significant proportion of women.

Women entrepreneurs head some of Scotland’s newer tech companies. People like Lorraine Howard at NN4M, Lesley Eccles at FanDuel, Leah Hutcheon at Appointedd, and Vicky Brock at Clear Returns.

Women are also increasingly in very senior roles – in Scotland, look at Maggie Morrison, VP at CGI, Alison McLaughlin, Regional Director at Sopra Steria, and Gillian Docherty, CEO at The Data Lab. Across the UK, the new CEO of Microsoft UK is Cindy Rose, Google’s London Campus is headed by Sarah Drinkwater and serial entrepreneurs like Sherry Coutu at the ScaleUp Institute, Reshma Sohoni at SeedCamp and Eileen Burbidge founder of Passion Capital and Chair of TechCityUK are investing in the next generation of start-ups.

Technology is changing all of our lives and underpins breakthroughs in areas as diverse as cancer research, animal husbandry, smart transport, and social care. New applications in manufacturing, the arts, tourism, retail, education and financial services, coupled with recent advances in robotics, voice technology and the increasing ubiquity of sensors provides the potential for a huge range of new products and services to be created. If you want to change the world, digital technology skills will give you the head start you need.

There are great examples of women working throughout the digital technologies industry but not enough, and we need to change that. New research into women in Scotland’s digital technologies industry found that women account for only 18 per cent of people working in the sector. It’s important to remember that this hasn’t always been the case and women were very much present during the early days of computing.

The report, Tackling the Technology Gender Gap Together†, found two key barriers to women’s participation in technology: a lack of awareness of the opportunities available in the industry and the effect of negative stereotypes. Women working in the sector identified aspects of their jobs that should be appealing to women but they did not think they were widely acknowledged. They felt there was a general lack of knowledge that the technology sector requires individuals who are creative, problems solvers, good team workers and who are interested in making a difference.

Women have a huge part to play in the industry’s continued success. But we do need to ask whether we’re using the right messages to encourage women to join the industry. We must excite girls and young women about the opportunities the industry offers. Intervention must begin at primary school and continue to higher education and beyond.

A considerable amount of work is now under way, under the ICT & Digital Technologies Skills Investment Plan to address the industry’s gender balance from promoting the sector, to developing a range of case studies and best practice guides to be launched next month, and challenging schools, colleges and universities to highlight the industry as an attractive career destination.

Industry also needs to consider if it is doing the right things to retain women in the workforce.

With more than 70 per cent of female science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) graduates not staying long term in STEM related careers, companies must look at how they can improve this. Otherwise, all the work to attract more women to join the industry risks being wasted.

Polly Purvis is Chief Executive of ScotlandIS