Female developers in tech teams

The International #Women Day is about so many things because inequalities come in so many shapes. Let me talk about one of them: women in tech, because that's where I work and where I can act.   It starts early, this idea that women are not made for tech (which only leads to tech not being made for them). Only 16% of technical roles in France are held by women. That’s how little they are taking part in what shapes increasingly our daily lives. It's the result of many inequal treatments and representations that hinder them, all in essence deep social #inequalities.   Acting against these inequalities is possible. At Orange Business, 26% of technical roles are held by women. Better, but still not enough. We’re pushing, with real programs and real results, but the work is far from being done yet.   So what do we actually do ? We’re focusing our recruitment to bring more women into technical and management roles. We follow up on gender diversity metrics every quarter at the executive management level—we #track, we #measure, and we #act. Inclusive leadership isn’t just a buzzword for us, it’s how we build our teams. We also run mentorship and empowerment programs like “WomenUp,” and I’m proud to say that 60% of participants have grown into broader responsibilities after just one year.   And the numbers show it’s working. Women now hold 30% of manager positions at Orange Business, with steady progress (+2 pts vs. last year). Women in our top management positions are at 37%, up 2 pts as well. But we’re not stopping here. Our ambition for 2026 is to raise the bar and reach a rate of women managers matching the rate of women in our overall headcount—managerial parity that truly reflects our workforce.   Why do I care? Because I want my daughter—and every girl—to see tech as her playground, not a closed club. The photo I’m sharing today is her, coding on Minecraft. She’s not waiting for permission. She’s just doing it. That’s what I want for every girl: curiosity, #confidence, and zero limits. I really hope that she won't need an International Women Day when she enters the job market. And I really hope she does not get flowers that day just because she's a woman and people think that’s what nice, sensitive women want—and that it’s all it takes to celebrate equality 🙄 (raise your hand if you’ve been there! 😅)   So, thank you to everyone, men and women, at Orange and beyond, who’s making progress real. Not with speeches or flowers, but with action.   Now, I’m off to the office—but I can’t wait to pick up our Minecraft adventure again tonight.

💻 20 years in IT. That’s how long I’ve worked in this industry. In that time, I’ve built my career on technical knowledge, hard work, and a deep love for what I do. But despite that, I still walk into rooms where people assume I can’t be the technical SME. Not because of my experience. Not because of my skills. But because I’m a woman. Over the years, I’ve had to fight harder to prove myself than male colleagues with less experience. I always believed things would get better, that we’d evolve past those outdated assumptions. Sadly, even in 2025, I still encounter that same disrespect, and not just from men. Sometimes, it comes from other women too. Let’s not forget the women who helped shape this industry, Ada Lovelace, Margaret Hamilton, Dorothy Vaughan. They were pioneers, innovators, and leaders. Women have always belonged in tech. 👉 So here’s my ask: If you work in IT, assume the woman in the room knows her stuff. Assume she’s the SME. Assume she’s a badass. Because more often than not, she is. Let’s break the bias. Together. #WomenInTech #GenderBias #InclusionMatters #TechIndustry #STEM #BiasInTech

Talent? Is everywhere. Opportunity? Scarce… unless created. They didn’t climb the ladder. They built it, and left the blueprint for others to move up. 📌 Avye Couloute The coder who started before double digits. Launched Girls Into Coding to shift the ratio. Mailed robot kits across three continents mid-lockdown. Trains girls to build tech, not wait for it. 📌 Kike Oniwinde The founder who turned protest into pipelines. Built BYP Network to scale Black economic mobility. Matched 11K+ résumés, ran 200+ mentor programs. Created tech that delivers jobs, not just access. 📌 Tiarma Witte The CTO who made tech careers low-code and high reach. Built training tracks that bypass gatekeeping and jargon. Scaled digital access through skill, not pedigree. Rewired “non-technical” into transformation-ready. 📌 Sharmi Albrechtsen The founder who coded ambition into a toy. Launched SmartGurlz to teach STEM through play. Sold 30K+ robots that run on mission-based learning. Made early tech fluency a game, and a gateway. 📌 Suw Charman-Anderson The strategist who turned silence into stagecraft. Founded Ada Lovelace Day to surface hidden talent. Sparked 100+ global events, from cabarets to code labs. Built visibility into the system, not the sidelines. 📌 Maria Klawe The president who rewired the pipeline from within. Took CS women majors from 15% to 42%. Redesigned intro courses to unlock access, not ego. Proved you don’t lower standards, just barriers. 📌 Williamina Fleming The maid who mapped the stars, and hired others to do it. Led Harvard’s women “computers” before the title existed. Discovered nebulae, classified stars, trained a generation. Built astronomy’s first pipeline, by hand, in skirts. 📌 Veronica Santos The roboticist scaling talent and tactile tech. Leads in SWE, a 27K-strong women-in-tech network. Runs the UCLA lab building hands that feel. Engineers systems, for motion, and momentum. 📌 Annalisa Arcella The scientist turning presence into pipeline. Leads Women Techmakers to train technical speakers. Builds confidence with code, not clichés. Opened the mic, and the door. 📌 Sarah Frances Whiting The physicist who built the lab before the rules. Founded Wellesley’s physics program in 1878. Trained women in science before it was allowed. Laid the groundwork, and lit the fuse. 📌 Radia Perlman The engineer who made the internet, and entry points. Invented Spanning Tree, rewired global networks. Built a coding language for kids aged three. Proved brilliance scales best when shared. 📌 Zoe Bachman The architect behind coding’s open door. Designed Codecademy’s intro path for millions. Turned syntax into story, and access into scale. Taught the world to code, one module at a time. Work is unstable. Access isn’t guaranteed. These women created opportunity,  and made sure others could have it, too. Who else builds opportunity when the market doesn't?

Every day, I speak with multiple businesses across Australia about getting more women into tech... but what about the ones who are leaving? Tech is an industry of innovation, problem-solving, and huge opportunity, yet we’re still losing women every year! From speaking to multiple women each and every week, here’s what I’m hearing; 👉 Many women are still hitting the glass ceiling. They see their peers being promoted over them, despite equal (or greater) experience and impact. Without visibility, sponsorship, and a clear path to leadership, many start questioning if the industry is worth it. 👉 Cultural issues, from microaggressions to being the only woman in the room, many feel unheard and undervalued. 👉 The pressure to overperform just to be seen, combined with outdated workplace policies, is pushing women out. Flexible work, parental leave, and psychological safety aren’t just nice-to-haves; they’re essentials. 👉 Women don’t just need advice; they need decision-makers advocating for them in rooms they’re not in. Without that, climbing the ladder becomes exhausting. I’ve spent over 12 years working in tech recruitment, hosting panels with some of the most brilliant women in the industry, and running Sisterhood Club to create spaces where women can thrive in tech. I know this problem isn’t going away unless leaders step up. That’s exactly why I started: The Big Sister Mentorship Program – connecting women with senior leaders who advocate for them, not just advise them. Career Confidence Podcast – featuring real conversations on career growth, leadership, and what it really takes to succeed. Workshops & Sisterhood Socials – because women need spaces to upskill, connect, and support each other in an industry that still isn’t designed for them. We must acknowledge that Retention is just as important as attraction. Are you ensuring women have clear career growth opportunities? Are your workplace policies built for everyone? Are you actively advocating for and sponsoring women in your teams? Tech needs women. And not just at the entry level; we need them leading, innovating, and shaping the future. What else can be done to keep women in the tech industry? Let me know your thoughts

There still aren’t enough women in tech. And no, it’s not because we “opt out.” I’ve gone back and forth on whether to write this, because women who talk about their experiences in tech are often labeled as dramatic, difficult, or making it about gender. But silence hasn’t fixed it, so here we are. I’ve loved technology since I was young. I’ve consistently outperformed, stayed late, learned more, shipped more, and cared deeply about the work. And yet, alongside that, I’ve also experienced things in my career that have nothing to do with my skill: - Being inappropriately harassed at work - Being treated as a “distraction” instead of a contributor - Being told I’m not as capable as I think I am or that my brain is less capable because I am female - Being called a DEI hire instead of an engineer - Being asked if a parent “got me the job” - Being talked over, doubted, or underestimated, even with results to back me up None of that made me better at my job. None of that helped the team. And none of that is a rite of passage we should be normalizing. Here’s the part that matters most: This is why women leave tech. Not because they can’t do the work but because they get tired of having to prove they belong over and over again. If we want more women in tech, the call to action isn’t “encourage girls to code harder.” It’s: - Take women seriously the first time - Believe competence doesn’t have a gender - Call out inappropriate behavior when you see it - Stop assuming confidence equals arrogance when it comes from a woman - Make space where women don’t have to armor up just to do their jobs There are so many brilliant, driven, creative women who would thrive in this field if the environment didn’t quietly push them out. I’m still here because I love the work. But I want it to be better for the women coming after me so they get to focus on building, learning, and leading… not surviving. If you’re in tech, you’re part of shaping that future. Let’s do better than we did before. #WomenInTech #WomenWhoBuild #TechCulture #EngineeringLeadership #InclusiveTech #DiversityInTech #EquityInTech #RepresentationMatters #BuildBetterTeams #TechCareers #WomenInEngineering #LeadershipInTech #FutureOfWork #ChangeTheCulture

"But what about the women?" 🤔 I've spent a fair bit of time speaking about workplace cultures and making them inclusive, but this week I was pleased to speak to #WomenInTech at Cajigo's mentoring session. We discussed the following scenario that still too many women face: "As the only woman in the team: 🔶 you’re more likely to get asked to take notes in meetings 🔶 you face barriers and challenges with your male boss 🔶 you’re told you don’t contribute enough to the team 🔶 you're given the low level projects to work on 🔶 you are paid less than your male colleagues 🔶 your ideas aren’t taken seriously 🔶 there’s no room for progression 🔶 your voice is not heard 🔶 there’s not enough EQUALITY in the team 👉 THIS is a reality for many women working in tech and leads to being UNDERVALUED, with a knock-on effect on #mentalhealth, #wellbeing and women leaving organisations. " And while it sucks when you're in that situation, there are things you can do to take your power back 💪 My most frequent advice? ↪ Build your visibility ↪ Create a 'real' career development plan ↪ Build your network (early) and get yourself sponsors I explore these and many more tips in my book #ValuedAtWork, and also work 1:1 with women to help them discover and harness their untapped potential at work. If you find yourself in the situation described above and don't know what to do, please do get in touch. And a big THANK YOU to Cajigo and Rav Bumbra for the opportunity to share my experience as well as to learn from the amazing Amanda Newman who is an INCREDIBLE human - if you're not following her, you're missing out 😊

Just read the Lovelace Report 2025 and the numbers have genuinely shocked me 🤯 The UK tech industry is losing £2–3.5 billion every year because women are leaving roles or leaving tech altogether. And it’s not down to lack of skill or ambition. It’s down to the environments we’re putting them in - lack of progression, unfair pay, poor recognition, cultures that don’t make people want to stay. This is an urgent need for change. Because every time we lose someone from underrepresented backgrounds, we lose not just talent - we lose perspective, creativity, ideas that never got to show up. A few things I think help companies actually turn this around: 💜 Transparent career paths - people need to see where they can go, not just what they’re doing now. 💜 Recognition and reward - fairness in pay + visibility when people deliver. 💜 Culture that listens - safe feedback, sponsorship, mentorship. If we want data & AI to solve meaningful problems, we need the teams building them to truly represent the world they impact. This is exactly why we started she does data. - to inspire more women into data & tech, and to make sure they’re not just entering the industry, but staying, growing, and leading in it 💜💪 If diversity is worth billions to the UK economy… why are we still treating it like an afterthought? #diversityindata #DEI #shedoesdata #femalesindata #femalesintech Oliver Wyman WeAreTechWomen

Continuing our International Women’s Day week reflection, the data still shows clear challenges for women in technology. Even with diversity and inclusion initiatives in place at many companies, women remain underrepresented in core technical fields such as software engineering and artificial intelligence. In many teams, less than 20% of technical roles are held by women. Retention is another critical issue. Research indicates that up to 40% of women leave the tech industry before the age of 35, often due to unwelcoming environments or limited advancement opportunities. At the same time, there are encouraging signs. Organizations that implement structured growth programs, mentorship initiatives, and pay transparency policies are seeing measurable improvements in satisfaction and retention of women in technical and leadership roles. These findings reinforce an important truth: leading with inclusion is not just a moral choice. It is a strategy for sustainable innovation. For those interested in diving deeper, the data is available here: https://lnkd.in/e3k8jVfx https://lnkd.in/ejrA-btk In your organization, which practices have proven most effective not only in attracting but in retaining and promoting women in technology? Let’s talk about real initiatives and measurable impact. #womenintech #techinnovation #diversityandinclusion #leadership #futureofwork #AI

🚨 We’re not just losing women in tech — we’re losing innovation, and future leadership. BILLIONS of £££s. Thanks to my friend Rav Bumbra for highlighting The Lovelace Report —— which launched at the House of Commons by WeAreTechWomen and Oliver Wyman. 💡 Key insights from the report: • 40,000–60,000 women exit UK tech roles every year • 80% of women in tech are currently considering leaving • 90% want to lead, yet only 1 in 4 believe it’s achievable • Over 70% hold additional qualifications, yet only 14% feel they’re progressing • Replacement and retraining alone costs another £1.4–2.2 billion As someone who has dedicated years to making cybersecurity more inclusive, this report lands with weight — but also with clarity. It’s not women who need fixing. It’s the system. This isn’t a pipeline problem. It’s a systemic failure to retain and progress women in tech — which is costing the UK £2–3.5 billion a year. That number is staggering, but it represents more than financial loss — it reflects lost innovation, stalled careers, and cultures that aren’t serving the people they claim to include. The Lovelace Report lays out a clear and urgent blueprint for change. We must: ✅ Redesign career frameworks to be inclusive by default ✅ Tackle structural barriers to progression ✅ Build cultures where women thrive — not just survive 🔗 Read and share the report: https://lnkd.in/es-235TF Let’s ensure our daughters — and every woman entering tech today — finds not just opportunity, but longevity, leadership, and equity. 📢 Please pass this on to your teams, tech leaders, and HR partners. Progress only happens when we act together. #WomenInTech #TheLovelaceReport #InclusiveLeadership #TechForGood #Cybersecurity #RetentionCrisis #EquityInTech #INSecurityMovement #JaneFrankland

As a woman involved in the tech sector, I understand firsthand the challenges we face in an industry that has often overlooked our contributions. However, I am proud to be part of a movement that not only champions diversity but recognizes its critical role in driving digital innovation and enhancing customer experiences.   Recent findings in our Lovelace Report reveal that the UK tech sector is losing a staggering £2-3.5 billion annually by not fully leveraging diversity. As global gender inequality continues to shift, we need varied perspectives and adaptive thinking more than ever. Yet, broken career frameworks and inequitable pay continue to drive talented women out of tech, depriving the industry of their invaluable insights.   Through dynamic discussions with senior women in tech across the UK and Ireland, alongside insights from over 500 professionals, Oliver Wyman and WeAreTechWomen have explored how we can adapt the tech industry to meet these pressing challenges. Here are some key takeaways: - Diverse teams outperform in volatile markets. - Inclusive leadership fosters innovation. - Women bring essential problem-solving skills. - Current career structures often fail to nurture this talent.   Creating environments where women thrive is not just the right thing to do; it builds a competitive advantage for all of us.  Read more from the report here >> https://owy.mn/44M6SHz What’s your take on this? #WomenInTech #OliverWyman