Ada Scotland Employer Breakfast Takeaways – “Championing gender balance in the workplace in a changing global political and economic landscape”

Wednesday, 1 October 2025

Building on the success of the 2024 Ada Scotland first Employer Breakfast, this third  event focused on Championing gender balance in the workplace in a changing global political and economic landscape.  We brought together tech, business and HR leaders from diverse, tech-driven organisations to share their experiences and insights.

A huge thank you to Nicola Menzies, Catherine McNeil and Andy McNeish for driving this programme forward.
 


Definition:

DEI – Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

DEI represents a framework aimed at creating a fair and welcoming environment in workplaces where they seek to promote fair treatment and full participation of ALL people, and particularly groups that have been underrepresented or subjected to discrimination.

DEI initiatives are essential for fostering a positive work culture, improving employee morale and driving innovation.

Diversity is about recognising our individual differences.   Equity is about impartiality and fairness within an organisation.  Inclusion is about ensuring that the historically marginalised feel like they belong.

Discussion notes and take-aways: How can we continue to champion DEI and gender balance in the workplace?

  • It is really important that organisations take the time and make the effort to attend careers fayres and to deliver STEM events in schools in order to generate interest in Tech across all groups.
  • It is felt that pupils in high school will often face a choice between doing Home Economics, for example, or Computer Science. We all acknowledge that we need more children choosing Computer Science! But often, children will pick the easier choice and so we don’t have as many children undertaking computer science.
  • The group reflected on whether there is a fundamental disjoin between education and business sectors.  Educational establishments don’t appear to be aware of what businesses need kids to be pursuing at school to be able to get into roles in Tech.
  • The group considered if it is an idea that employers talk directly to parents in order that parents can provide information and encourage their children to consider jobs in technology rather than focusing on the more traditional jobs.  Do we need industry to go into schools on a far more regular basis and talk more about the great opportunities in tech to kids and promote awareness?
  • All employers really need to consider how they can raise awareness about jobs in our industries, e.g. architects, software developers and so on.
  • The group also raised the question about whether we in our industries are doing enough in underprivileged places to generate interest.
  • It was noted that the Glasgow Science Centre runs a parents’ evening, which could be incredibly useful for getting parents to understand more about the value of careers in STEM.
  • It was noted that there was some challenge associated with people located in the East End trying to get to the West End to attend this really worthwhile event because it might have been quite costly to travel.  Train tickets were posted out to people to remove that concern around cost of travel and so it became a much more inclusive opportunity for people.
  • It was also noted that Skills Development Scotland run an event titled “How to build an app.” It broke down all of the jobs involved in how to build an application, which would be incredibly useful, and gave people a taste of how they CAN use their skills in this area
  • If a child’s parents don’t have technical jobs themselves then you might find that their sphere of influence can be more limited (e.g. if a parent is not confident technically it is less likely they can support their children).
  • Note that MCR pathways have a mentoring framework in place. This is 1-1 coaching with individuals who are less likely to have good academic outcomes if left to their own devices. This is something that people in technical jobs can get involved in. 
  • Is primary school the right age to try and influence choices?  ….as by the time that girls are in high school, peer pressure can prevent young girls from around age 12 from pursuing choices that could lead them to jobs in technology. If you are the only girl in computing science class, for instance.
  • Should we be looking at what we can communicates at After School Clubs (primary school age)? It might be that the school curriculum is full and cannot accommodate opportunities in the timetable for Employers to get into schools and talk to students about opportunities in Tech. We could think instead about getting into after school clubs and using the opportunity in these clubs to talk to all kids about opportunities in technology.
  • With regards to school curriculums, should we be taking opportunities to integrate technology into these curriculums in order that we have a better chance at enhancing kids’ digital skills?  We were dynamic through COVID with the school curriculum!!  Could we do that again and be dynamic with a view to adjusting the curriculum to ensure that technology and digital skills are taught? One idea was to bring technical skills in across “Non technical subjects,” for the reason that all future workers will need to use technical skills in sone form.
  • The British Computing Society.  Many women are leaving jobs in technology altogether and one of the reasons is that they are feeling unsupported. How do we keep inclusion going and provide rewarding careers?
  • Nurseries are very expensive and it might be that families/ women may not be able to afford going back to work on a full-time basis and so again, this is another area that could be reviewed to try and ensure that women are getting the opportunities they want.
  • It was noted that with regards to Artificial Intelligence, this is a fast evolving area and its judicious use to create robust code is a work in progress with various views regarding to what extent it can be used well.  The outputs from AI will absolutely still need stewardship, by humans!
  • The group had some discussion about salaries and it was noted that Employers absolutely must NOT pay what they think they can get away with!  Salaries should be advertised on all roles.  It was noted that in the United States, a number of states make it a legal requirement for Employers to publish salary ranges on roles that are being advertised.  It can be regarded as another barrier to women when salaries are not published. People can spend a lot of time applying for a role to then learn later in the process that the salary is actually far too low.
  • Putting “salary based on experience” in a job advert is just simply not good enough.
  • Glasgow salaries versus London salaries – now that many jobs can be done on a remote basis, is it the case that Scotland is losing talent because of salaries?
  • Post COVID – have remote employees actually changed the DEI landscape?  Might the change since COVID have actually helped promote better DEI by having lots more hybrid and/or remote opportunities in place? Hybrid working has helped many, many individuals with added flexibility in their lives.  It is thought that our more modern working arrangements have actually considerably helped DEI efforts.
  • The triangular test associated with hybrid working is about testing to make sure that the needs of the team, the individual and the firm are all being satisfied.
  • However it could be said that we are at risk of leaving the younger generation behind if we are all working from home and not supporting these younger employees by developing them and helping them in the work environment and making sure that they become effective employees. Those of us with experience should be spending time sitting, in person, with our younger workforce to help bring them on.  Note however that this should be balanced against those experienced individuals with demanding full-time roles and being careful about how much time is committed in this respect.
  • It was noted in the group that ‘in person’ presence in offices where water cooler chats can happen are extremely useful at building positive company cultures and helping colleagues build sound /strong working relationships.
  • With regards to children of school age, should we be going and asking kids how they would want us Employers to be communicating and engaging with them? Consider the extent to which kids watch YouTube channels and TikTok for example!  Should we be getting more creative?!
  • We should be considering Careers Fayres and bringing Graduates and Graduate Apprentices with us to these fayres in order that the kids attending can identify with them.  It would be very helpful for these people that we are trying to attract to be able to speak to role models!