Closing the Gap
*According to two women forging successful careers within IBM, the industry can address its *gender gap by educating educators.
Word by Katie Scott.
When Vikki Bradney-Spencer started working at IBM, she was relieved. Now the Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at the company, she joined from a sector in which gender inequality was widespread.
“I started off in financial services and there was a real difference there between men and women. When I moved into the tech sector, I felt that it was really fresh. I thought, my goodness, this is all about what a person is capable of,” she shares.
After more than 20 years at the company, Bradney-Spencer says that she has never perceived a glass ceiling for women at IBM and that she has always had female role models. “We have a female Chief Executive for the UK and Ireland in Nicola Hodson, who is an engineer by background. Until recently, we had a female global CEO, Virginia Rometty, who again was an engineer. There are lots of women around who have had very successful careers in technology.”
Educating educators
Bradney-Spencer acknowledges, though, that there is much work still to be done. In its 2023 report on “the world’s best private cloud computing companies”, Forbes revealed that there were only six companies on their Cloud100 roster with female CEOs. This was down from the year before. To get more women into a position where they can reach the C-Suite, Bradney-Spencer argues that we need to be addressing issues with the ‘pipeline’. We must question why more girls aren’t looking at the technology sector as a potential career path and, she says, some issues can be tracked right back into schools.
Bradney-Spencer is a major player in IBM’s SkillsBuild programme. Affiliated with techskills, this is a free programme which aims to increase access to technology education. It includes an online platform that is complemented by customised practical learning experiences delivered in collaboration with a global network of partners. More than 1,000 courses in 20 languages are now available on the platform and subjects tackled include artificial intelligence (AI), sustainability, cybersecurity, data analysis, cloud computing and design thinking.
Being instrumental in developing this burgeoning programme and her role as a school governor – firstly at a primary school and now at a secondary school – has allowed Bradney-Spencer to see not only exactly how STEM subjects are taught, but also to engage with students and educators about their perceptions of the industry. This is where work needs to be done, she says, because she believes that both students and teachers have an outdated view of the technology industry. She has seen teachers focusing on computer science and students then coming to believe that a role in technology means spending your days coding. This perception piques the interest of some students; others are put off.
Our education system pushes students to hone down their subjects from GCSE onwards, which is the point at which many girls move away from STEM subjects. “There’s a big education piece here,” Bradney-Spencer explains. “There is a massive diversity of roles within technology, but there is an attitude within schools that technology is really narrowly focused. Some teaching staff can have a limited view of the world of potential careers in tech and this can come through in the lessons. The curriculum needs to reflect the skills that employers are now looking for in technology. It’s not simple computer science, but complex problem-solving and creative thinking. You don’t have to be doing computer science in order to shine in those areas. I don’t think teachers and young people have got their heads around the fact that everybody has to have technology skills because everybody is going to be working in a digital world.”
The power of guidance
Peggy Sinclair is a third-year degree apprentice at Manchester Metropolitan University and an X-Force Incident Response Consultant at IBM. It was one teacher’s awareness of career diversity within the industry that opened her eyes, but she was also offered advice on the different routes she could take to a career in the industry.
“I was lucky because I had one teacher who knew about the apprenticeship pathway,” she tells us. “I think we need more awareness at school that there are different routes into technology. You can still get a degree and you can still go to university, but you can do it in a different way. We also need to show girls that not all of the roles in technology are technical because this might not be what they are interested in. Exposure to what is actually available is so important.”
Sinclair worked with a mentor at Pathway CTM who guided her through the degree apprenticeship application process. However, she was one of only two girls studying a Computer Science A-level at her school and admits that this was daunting. It’s a nationwide trend: the WomenTech Network reports that only 35 per cent of girls study STEM subjects beyond GCSEs, while STEM Women shares that 123,180 female students studied STEM subjects at undergraduate level for the 2022-23 academic year, which equates to 31 per cent of the cohort. When broken down into courses, only 21 per cent of engineering and technology students were women.
The government has pushed resources into researching how to tackle this huge disparity. Bradney-Spencer believes that the answer is for the industry to educate and provide role models. For her, girls are more likely to pursue a career in technology if they can see the successful women who have gone before them and if they meet people with whom they can identify.
Finding role models
Bradney-Spencer shares details of a programme run across London last summer in which IBM worked with Year 8 girls in their schools. She recounts: “We sent out some of our younger IBMers – people aged around 25 to 30 years old – and they worked with the girls in groups across six weeks. The key was putting people in front of them who are role models that they can aspire to be. They were learning about what it could be like to work in technology.”
The team used the IBM SkillsBuild platform to teach the students technology, workplace and digital skills in order to help them understand the types of careers or roles that they could go into. Bradney-Spencer adds that the students worked to earn externally accredited badges and micro-credentials, all for free. This empowered them while the role models gave them a clear sight of what is possible. “We need to show them that women are already doing incredible things in technology,” she explains.
Sinclair is obviously already a firm advocate for the technology industry, but says that role models remain essential for her. “I’ve had a lot of support from everyone throughout my journey, not just in this new role. I’ve had a lot of guidance in getting the experience that I need for my apprenticeship and what I want for myself to stand me in great stead for my future career.”
She has seen female IBMers in a huge range of roles, going against the preconception that the technology industry is male-dominated and limited in scope. She says: “Some of the women that I’ve worked with are really exceptional business analysts within technology projects, but I’ve also seen some really exceptional software developers and sales representatives. All of the women that I have worked with are in different roles, but it’s all under the broad umbrella of the technology industry. There’s just so much out there that you need to work to your strengths.”
She states that, after two years at IBM, she firmly believes that gender doesn’t play a part in career selection within the technology industry. “I don’t think that there are specific roles that women are suited to. It’s about the individual. If you’re passionate and motivated to do a role, you try it out.”
Bradney-Spencer is heartened by this. “I do quite a lot of work with our young professionals and I’d be horrified if they ever felt that there was a glass ceiling,” she says.
Sinclair is now a prime candidate to speak to other female students about her positive experiences and play a part in spreading awareness about the scope and creativity a career in technology can offer. She started her apprenticeship as a Project Support Officer, but also got to experience what the senior architects’ and the project managers’ roles look like. She has now found her passion in cybersecurity and is working as an incident response consultant.
Her excitement about her career path is palpable. This is a young woman who had a strong sense of what she wanted to do and hasn’t been deterred by misconceptions about the technology industry. She has felt supported through the entire journey. As she tells us: “I personally haven’t ever come across anyone who has made me feel like I can’t or shouldn’t do something just because I’m a girl.”
For those hesitating as they pick GCSEs, A-levels, a degree or even people considering a change in career, hearing about positive experiences from women like Sinclair could steer their lives on to a different path. If enough voices are heard and there is a change in how the technology industry is perceived, we might start seeing the gender gap in the technology industry – and in STEM professions generally – start to narrow.