Firm joins scheme to open up tech world to women

Along with more than 20 organisations, Onecom based in Whiteley, has signed up to ‘Tech She Can Charter’ launched by PwC in order for the industry to commit to work together to reach more young females across the UK to inspire them to pursue technology careers.

Research conducted by PwC revealed that only 27 per cent of females say they would consider a career in technology, compared to 62 per cent of males.

Head of human resources at Onecom, Parysa Hosseini-Sech, said: ‘Onecom is committed to ensuring that all young people, regardless of gender, have the opportunity to pursue and progress in a rewarding career in communications technology.

‘We are delighted to be actively supporting the Tech She Can programme.’

It comes after companies across the UK had to publish their gender pay gap information.

As The News previously reported, Onecom’s top pay quartile is 81 per cent men with women’s hourly rate in the company 21.1 per cent lower than men.Parysa added: ‘The gender imbalance in technology roles is a key issue of our time that we need to work together to address head on.

‘We’re already seeing the huge impact technology is having on our lives.

‘If the sector and people in technology roles don’t reflect wider society there’s a real risk that the products and technology advances will be biased.

The charter includes work ing with schools across the UK to educate and inspire pupils to consider a career in technology by developing technology toolkits, promoting our successful women in tech roles and supporting the right environment to attract, recruit and retain females.

Sheridan Ash, Women in Tech leader at PwC and The Tech She Can Charter founder, said: ‘Waiting until women are entering work is simply too late.

‘To boost the number of females in technology we need to take co-ordinated action to start inspiring girls to consider technology careers while they are still at school.

‘By working together we can reach more females at an earlier stage of their lives.

‘We need to work harder to raise awareness about the exciting range of technology roles out there, in a sector that has the power to change the world.’