{"id":120816,"date":"2026-03-12T15:25:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T18:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/898994696"},"modified":"2026-03-12T15:25:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T18:25:22","slug":"government-launches-new-measures-to-boost-women-and-girls-into-the-tech-sector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/03\/12\/government-launches-new-measures-to-boost-women-and-girls-into-the-tech-sector\/","title":{"rendered":"Government launches new measures to boost women and girls into the tech sector"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The UK government has announced a new package of measures to increase women\u2019s participation in the technology sector and address the significant underrepresentation of women in tech roles.<\/p>\n

Currently, the economy losing an estimated \u00a32 to \u00a33.5 billion every year as women leave the sector<\/a> \u2013 today\u2019s package is targeted at changing this.<\/p>\n

The initiative includes a \u00a34 million TechFirst Women\u2019s Programme, which will fund 300 paid placements in tech roles across SMEs, helping women develop their skills, gain experience, and progress in the industry. The programme will also provide coaching and interview preparation to support candidates entering these roles.<\/p>\n

Alongside this, the government is launching a pilot \u201creturnship\u201d scheme in partnership with the Home Office and Ministry of Justice, designed to help experienced software developers<\/a> re-enter the workforce after career breaks. The programme will target professionals who have been out of work for 18 months or more, addressing the barriers many returners, particularly women, face in re-entering the tech sector<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To encourage interest in technology earlier in life, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology<\/a> will also introduce the TechFirst Girls Competition, delivered in partnership with IBM. The nationwide initiative will engage thousands of 12\u201313 year-old girls, giving them hands-on experience with technologies such as AI and coding through competitive challenges designed to showcase potential tech<\/a> careers.<\/p>\n

Sheila Flavell CBE, COO of FDM Group commented: \u201cUpskilling and reskilling women in digital skills must<\/a> be a priority. From supporting women through early education to providing clear pathways into technical and leadership roles, businesses and government need<\/a> to work together to invest in training that equips women with in-demand digital and AI skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis should also include dedicated pathways for women returners looking to re-enter the workforce after a career break, ensuring experienced talent is not lost to the tech<\/a> sector.\u201dLinda Benjamin, VP of product development at AND Digital commented: \u201cRigid hiring practices are sidelining highly capable women at exactly the moment their skills are most needed. Despite years of experience and strong<\/a> adaptability, women are still forced to \u201cprove it again\u201d through narrower performance metrics and biased definitions of experience, often breaking through one ceiling only to encounter another.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReskilling women represents one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to close digital<\/a> vacancies, protect roles from AI disruption, and retain institutional knowledge. But progress cannot stop at hiring alone<\/a>. Organisations must also expand access<\/a> to sponsorship and create fair leadership pathways that enable women to pivot into emerging areas like AI.<\/p>\n

The announcement also includes a Call for Evidence from the Women in Tech Taskforce, launched to gather insights on how best to support women entering and progressing in emerging technology<\/a> fields, including AI, and to address potential biases in technology development.<\/p>\n

The government says the measures aim to support women at every stage of their careers, from inspiring interest in school to enabling professionals to return to the workforce and progress into leadership roles, while helping close the talent gap and strengthen the UK\u2019s tech sector<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… in the technology<\/span> sector and address the significant underrepresentation of women in tech<\/span> … re-entering the tech<\/span> sector. To encourage interest in technology<\/span> earlier in … Department for Science, Innovation and Technology<\/span> will also introduce the TechFirst Girls …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120816\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}