Member Article

Championing careers in computing for women

North East headquartered managed IT service provider, razorblue was one of several tech-centric businesses supporting an online event, Hello World, which was held virtually by Teesside University.

Around 200 young girls from Year 8, 9 and 10 took part from schools across the region with the intention of inspiring them to consider a career in computing.

Women make up only 16% of IT professionals in the UK, a statistic challenged by managed IT service provider razorblue.

The firm’s workforce includes 22 females, significantly beating the industry average. Over a third of which are in managerial or director roles, including a newly recruited Business Development Manager joining the team next month.

Lesley-Anne Rose, lecturer in Stop Motion Animation in the University’s School of Computing, Engineering and Digital Technologies, said: “There is a huge under representation of women training in the digital tech sector, which makes Hello World such an important event.

“Although many teenage girls use computers in the same way as their male peers, they are still far less likely to consider a technology-related career.

“Hello World helps to dispel the myth that computing and digital technologies are for boys and to show girls the wide variety of exciting careers open to them in this rapidly evolving field.”

The event included a panel of inspirational women speaking about what and who inspired them to pursue a career in digital technology. razorblue was represented by members from its team including Marketing, Project Management, Technical Account Management and Service Desk teams. A range of creative and technical workshops were held, too.

Marketing Manager at razorblue, Georgie Watson who is on the event’s panel said: “At razorblue, we actively champion women in our industry, and we are keen to ensure that the younger generation see the variety of opportunities available to them. With more jobs being created than in any other sector, there are many different avenues into a career in technology.

“We’re honoured to be playing a part in opening young women’s eyes to an exciting future in technology.”

razorblue strongly believes in promoting equality and diversity through its workforce and continues to grow the team in this way with several live vacancies open.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Peachy Digital .