Cloud-based banking platform partners with Code First Girls to close fintech gender gap

ClearBank, a London headquartered, cloud-based banking platform, has announced a new drive to actively recruit female coders through a partnership with Code First Girls.

The largest provider of free coding courses for women in the UK, Code First Girls’ impact does not stop with education as they work with over 100 partners in the UK and globally to actively place women into tech roles.

Code First Girls has placed thousands of people into the tech industry, and these companies are seeing the impact of employing a more diverse tech workforce. The benefits of actively recruiting women from non-technical backgrounds include creative problem solving for security threats, to performance improvements and innovation across all sectors.

ClearBank joins 30 other fintech and financial services companies, including Lloyds Banking Group, Morgan Stanley, NatWest, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, in partnering with Code First Girls. The financial sector is the largest and fastest growing proportion of Code First Girls’ client list, with fintechs and traditional banks alike keen to hire more women.

Analysis of the most recent ONS Labour Force Survey reveals significant gender gaps in both the tech and finance industries. Women make up only 18 per cent of computer programmers and software development professionals, web design professionals, and data analysts in the UK.

Code First Girls’ analysis also shows women make up just 31 per cent of UK brokers, financial analysts and advisers in the UK. But in 2022 alone, Code First Girls provided 44,861 opportunities for women to learn how to code, compared to just 6,450 women who embarked upon undergraduate computing degrees in the UK in 2022.

Anna Brailsford, CEO of Code First Girls, said: “It’s fantastic to partner with ClearBank to support more women into the fintech industry and to help them recruit female coders into their team. There is currently a worrying gender gap, with many women facing significant barriers to entering STEM careers, starting at school and continuing throughout their lives.

“Varied and diverse experiences and skills will only make both the tech and finance industries stronger, bringing huge opportunities to businesses as well as the individuals themselves.”

Tom Harris, chief technology officer at ClearBank, added: “As a business focused on driving transformation in the financial services industry, diversity in its many forms is vital to us and ClearBank is committed to championing it.

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Code First Girls on this initiative, helping to get more women and non-binary people into technology roles at ClearBank.”

By Matthew Neville – Senior Correspondent, Bdaily

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