The campaign has grown from strength to strength, attracting the interest of females from various organisations including Just Eat, E-consultancy and Fallon. We met with these women to discuss the issues surrounding women in the digital industry. The offered suggestion on how best we could improve the representation and population of women in the industry. What I would say first of all is that we have seen an influx of applications for the roles we are recruiting for from a female audience which is fantastic.
We asked each of the women involved a selection of questions in regards to our campaign such as, the involvement of women throughout all levels of a company, predictions for the biggest trends in 2015 and what advice they would give to graduates looking to join the sector.
Many were passionate about the advice they’d give as they really want to sector to do well and attract the best talent to their organisations. A rapidly growing majority of organisations have invested in graduate schemes. Our panel of women suggested that if your university offers the option of a gap year to take it, to get that experience and start to build your network. Many companies are in their first few years of a graduate scheme, and what I have noticed is that many graduates do tend to move on once they have completed their graduate scheme. Why are companies not retaining those graduates? Gender is not the only major discriminatory factor, age is also an issue here.
Graduates cannot afford the risk of a grad scheme that may let them go after a year or two. So what is the alternative? Rachael Pollard suggest joining a start-up just like she did when she started her career in the digital sector.
Joining a start-up over the bigger, sexier companies was one of the best decisions of her life. It allowed her to understand how a business operates and to take on more roles and responsibilities at a quicker rate. This also allowed Rachael to figure out what niche of marketing she liked most and she is where she is now because of it.
The digital industry gives everyone involved the freedom to innovate in a shared space.
The industry needs to practice equality. Employers should focus on ability rather than gender and we must also scrap anything that positions females as different. Women would rather compete against men and know they are being recognised by the entire industry. Although the majority of women interviewed have not suffered from gender inequality, female only awards does feel to them like positive discrimination and they are not a fan of them.
The more females that are recognised in the industry could lead to an influx in females wanting to join the industry, but it should be done on the same platform as men. Initiatives like this can also go a long way as the majority of the questions asked can also be asked to men. The digital industry gives everyone involved the freedom to innovate in a shared space.
To anyone looking to join the digital sector, understand the CV is dead you have to go above and beyond, Lottie shares and experience she had at a networking event and how the digital scene is continuously growing in the UK so greater opportunities will arise in the future.
To sum up my opinion of the outcome of our Women in Digital campaign, I feel to progress forward in filling the already vacant opportunities for women within the Digital sector, it’s down to the employers to encourage young talent into their organisation. I appreciate although it will take time, money and effort to train young employees to the level in which they need them to preform, it is so important in an industry so vibrant and diverse as the Digital Industry that we keep creating and developing opportunities for women at all levels.
