What role will women in tech play in 2025? It’s a straight question with perhaps no single definitive answer, writes Michele Smith, managing director of technology staffing at specialist recruitment company Reed.
Women in Tech in 2025: a SWOT analysis
A starting point to assessing the role of women in tech in the near future, and notably from 2025-26, is to look a little at the recent past.
Put another way, what are women in tech’s strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities, and how are these set to play out in the coming year?
Diverse = more engaged, satisfied workforce
Respected consultancy McKinsey has asserted that more diverse representation within an organisation makes for a more engaged, satisfied workforce.
It’s the sort of study hiring decision-makers ought to take note of, because it certainly constitutes an opportunity.
The weakness? It’s the tech sector’s gender imbalance
However, with women still largely underrepresented across the technology sector (since the McKinsey study was carried out in 2020), gender imbalance poses an ongoing problem.
It’s a weakness that must be addressed for organisations and the technology industry as a whole.
Apply now: Ethical AI Lead, Blockchain Programmer, Metaverse Architect
But what’s been going on more recently, in the last 12 months of 2024, for example?
Well, the UK technology sector is still growing at an astounding rate, with the rise of several new job roles in the past year, mirroring the dynamic nature of the tech landscape.
It’s this dynamism which employers should shout about to attract women in tech.
As an example, roles such as ‘AI Ethics Expert,’ ‘Blockchain Programmer’ and ‘Metaverse Architect’ are becoming more prevalent.
The driving force of AI (continued)
The rise of this trio, and others in 2024, is due to the heightened emphasis on ethical usage of Artificial Intelligence.
AI, generally, is an area women in tech in 2025 would be hard-pushed not to explore, particularly with the exciting new positions that this cutting-edge technology is bringing to the fore such as ‘AI trainer,’ ‘AI ethicist,’ and ‘AI implementation specialist.’
Data doesn’t bode well
Again though, the figures show that women only make up a quarter of the technology workforce, and only 5% of technology leadership positions.
The trajectory of IT sector growth in the UK simply cannot be sustained without ensuring it is attracting talent across all demographics. It’s a real threat to the sector, but these new head-turning roles, driven by AI, could help with the attraction issue.
Tech as a career isn’t being presented (evenly) enough in the classroom
We recruiters can do our bit and should continue to do so in 2025, but problematically, only 16% of females had a ‘technology career’ suggested to them while in education.
That compares poorly to the 33% of males who did have IT suggested to them as a career.
Further according to a PwC study, only 27% of female students said that they would consider a career in technology. Worse perhaps, only 3% said it was their first choice!
The lack of encouragement and support in formative years, when it comes to women potentially being on the cusp of moving into the UK technology sector is a weakness, and grimly, it seems to set the tone.
Poor tech industry ‘signposting’ to women and girls isn’t just at schools
Unfortunately, this lack of signposting towards the tech industry then continues throughout the key stages of women’s lives.
But at a foundational level, we know a large number of women aren’t considering careers in technology because they aren’t given enough information on what those careers could look like. They are also given inadequate information on how to enter the computing industry.
Roll out the role models in 2025 - a plea to women in tech employers
Subsequently though, and based on what we as a tech staffing agency have historically seen, there’s a lack of female role models.
There are not enough live or prominent real-world examples of women succeeding within the tech industry to show those of the same gender — who feel the lure of technical work — that it’s possible to take that stirring and make it into a viable, rewarding technology carer.
We’re trying to change that shortage of role models for female technologists.
Reed offers a free Women in Technology Mentoring Programme, set up specifically to address the lack of female role models and mentors working in tech.
Development, nurturing, retention
If you’re a business, this programme can help you develop your female team members in 2025.
It’s a tried and tested way for employers to support and nurture the technology talent of tomorrow.
Such mentoring schemes are a real strength, as they can help guide organisations in relation to their female tech talent pool, and they also encourage a sense of loyalty to businesses, aiding with female tech employee retention.
Another factor that threatens to hinder women from moving into the technology industry in 2025 (and that therefore needs to be addressed), is the gender pay gap.
The tech gender pay gap laid bare: £52k (m) vs £45k (f)
From our database tracking the last 12 months of pay activity, men in tech have an average salary of £52,000, whereas women in tech have an average salary of £45,000.
Perhaps related is another finding from the Reed 2024 Salary Guide — that more men (57%) feel confident that they will eventually hit that salary, compared to less than half of women (44%).
Diversity? It’s a key to unlock success
Despite the low numbers of women in IT leadership roles, our tech recruitment teams are seeing a marked increase and self-awareness within the industry that it must take action.
Big companies like Microsoft and Google, along with smaller startups, are now championing female executives who bring diverse perspectives to their organisations. That’s a welcome show of strength from Big Tech and small tech consultancies alike.
The edtech surge
Female-led startups, particularly in fields like health tech and edtech, have also surged in 2024, partly thanks to an increase in venture capital funding aimed at underrepresented founders. This too represents a strength.
We believe this shift signals a growing recognition of the value of diversity in driving innovation, and our hope is to see more of it in the coming months.
What can your tech firm do, day-to-day in 2025, to aid women in tech?
On the ground, digital companies and IT-led businesses should be working towards creating a culture and environment where diversity is championed and inclusion is the norm.
In practice, this means opening up the floor to discussions around adversity and difficulties in the sector, for fellow women or other minority groups.
Such conversations may be difficult to start at first, as employers may not be aware of what they don’t know.
In such cases, but to not pass up this opportunity, consider partnering with organisations that can provide assistance or involve minority communities when deciding on changes to implement via HR.
The importance of conscious recruitment
Ultimately, to have greater female representation within a technology business in 2025, it’ll come down to recruitment and upskilling, and a key part of authenticity is creating and implementing a stronger workplace inclusion policy.
This should involve including representatives from minority groups in both the initial draft and regular reviews.
As an employer, you can also include representatives from any Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) or networks, or ‘Inclusion Ambassadors’ who work in line with HR.
Make sure the first voice of recruitment speaks inclusively
It’s also important to extend your policy to the recruitment process.
Recruitment is the first voice your new talent will hear, so it must be an inclusive one in 2025.
Organisations can achieve this by implementing small changes, alongside partnering with those who can lend practical support, such as having ‘name-blind CVs’ and ensuring there’s inclusive language in job descriptions.
A new year for women in tech dawns, but a new approach?
As we move into 2025, it feels like the technology sector is at a precipice, with opportunities very much in front of it — there for the taking — but not if it cannot overcome its weaknesses and address its threats.
Recognising the lack of diversity and female representation are the keys to addressing the arguably biggest problem, while making positive, practical changes in education, career guidance and mentoring could tap into strengths that have the power to encourage more women into the technology industry — or else the industry risks putting its very own sustainability in jeopardy.
Michele Smith
Michele is Reed Talent Solutions’ managing director for client services, a role which allows her to implement her expertise in delivering customer service and excellence across large scale and complex workforce management programmes. While she has been in her current role for more than four years, Michele has a vast amount of experience garnered over 27 years working across business development, recruitment operations and account management. In 2008, she was appointed to main board and director-level positions. Her current role sees her lead Reed Talent Solutions’ client engagement teams supporting major enterprise contracts, take charge of supplier management, and develop the company’s recruit, train, deploy product. Michele cites her strengths as a willingness to pursue opportunities outside of her comfort zone, allowing her to gain new skills and a solid foundation as an effective member of the senior leadership team, and teamwork – including exploring ways to continually evolve client and co-member experience.
