Hosted by the People’s Postcode Lottery
7 October 2025
On Tuesday 7 October we held our fourth Ada Scotland Industry Roundtable event and first for Edinburgh. The event was hosted by the Diversity in Tech Group at the People’s Postcode Lottery. Opening remarks were made by Sara Davies, Software Engineer, and the discussion was chaired by Sarah Thomson, Head of Tech UK, at the People’s Postcode Lottery.
Sara opened with a brief presentation laying out the challenge under discussion, starting with the woeful low percentage of women in specialist tech roles in the UK – 21%. Recruitment is a challenge due to not enough female and non-binary people taking up tech subjects at school and university. This is exacerbated by drops in retention as outlined in the Attrition in Tech Report of 2023 published by Tech Talent Charter which found:
– one in three women are planning to leave their tech job
– one in four women in the last few years left for a non-tech role
– only one in six women who have been in their tech role for more than a year plan to stay
– four out of five women stated that their dissatisfaction with their career development impacted their decision to leave their tech role.
According to the 2025 Lovelace Report “Unlocking £2 – 3.5 Billion: The Value Of Keeping Women In Tech” the top five key factors impacting women leaving the workforce are:
25% limited direction and opportunity in career progression
17% recognition
15% inadequate pay
8% company culture and working conditions
7% burnout
A case study of a woman’s seven-year journey in a tech career ticked all of the above boxes, with lived experiences including:
– not being welcomed into a team by a male clique and being submitted to micro-aggressions
– owning highly valuable skills outside of coding going without recognition or reward
– number of years coding /in role valued above all other things makes it difficult to progress
– having to outperform and study more to try and get ahead leading to burnout
– on top of this, taking on self-driven extra responsibilities to be an ally and advocate for other women in the organisation leads to an overwhelming workload.
But they are still in tech and this is thanks to female mentors and allies (who have never taken credit for their work), and women in tech networks that have helped to shoulder the challenges, to push them to fight for career progression and better pay, given them the confidence to be themselves, and shared strategies to address the inequalities. In short to keep them “floating above the surface”.
Clearly “we have more work to do” and this led to lively discussion addressing challenges, shared experiences and positive action which have been captured under headings below.
Recruitment
Job descriptions lead women to self-deselect. One anecdote included a woman being encouraged to apply for a role which she resisted as she only met 3 of the 5 essential requirements, however, the men – undeterred – only met one.
Concerns over data bias in AI has serious implications for creating a level and fair playing field when it comes to candidate selection.
Organisations should avoid the temptation to run fast and recruit or promote quickly to plug a skills gap. It develops bad habits and does not always deliver the best person into the role.
There are many practices that are not inclusive and not useful to identifying the best person for the role.
Salaries, Recognition and Unpaid Work
The gender pay gap is still at 17% and various factors were raised that impact this:
– women don’t negotiate
– if there is a pay structure with salary bands women tend to be at the bottom-middle and men towards the top
– women typically take on additional tasks (admin and emotional labour) that go unrecognised and undervalued but are essential
– women with caring responsibilities will value flexibility over all else so they are available for their “unpaid working” commitments. It was noted in one organisation that although the top team was 4:3 women to men, three of the women did not have caring commitments.
Role models and allies
– It was universally agreed that role models and allies of all genders are essential but it was noted for events promoting gender diversity typically attendance is only 10% men
– Reverse mentoring with university students has led to positive outcomes
– Bottom up and top down support meeting in the middle is the sweet spot
– A recent report observed that female leaders in tech are content in their roles so how does that fair with those on the journey?
Remote working vs hybrid vs full time office
Fully remote, mandated in the office or hybrid – what is the solution? Consensus around the table is there is no one answer but the important thing is clarity of policy and communicating it effectively. Most around the table found that home working to some degree was helpful and can level the playing field for people with caring needs, who are neuro-divergent, have additional access or mobility needs, to name a few. It democratises the talent when you present an equality of opportunity but how do build a company culture?
However, downsides can lead to people not being “seen”, some (but not all) were concerned about the impact on collaborative creativity and team building. It also raises issues with regards to investing in your local geographic community which is covered below.
Advocacy for remote working raised points such as moving away from “old style thinking” and fully investing in creating a team environment. You have to be really intentional about the programme to build an element of belonging across all staff. Money saved on bricks, mortar and energy can be spent on real team building activities. “You are never far from a remoter when your workforce is everywhere”.
Structure / Framework vs Individual
The importance of frameworks and structures to eradicate bias and bad practice and support individual enterprise was universally agreed. This starts with having a simple framework in place so from day one a new member to the organisation is welcomed and has a journey plan.
The friction between individual agency and organisational structure was explored. Examples were shared of how individual initiative and ingenuity have led to better working practices but it should not be relied upon – it should be recognised, acknowledged and supported through the framework. How do you provide the structure that supports individual agency and how do you bring people into it? As an individual how do you identify your role, what is of value to you and to your career? Are you an educator, researcher, creator, organiser? How do you find your balance and how do you as an individual and the organisation leverage your skills?
As individuals we should be able to find our “creative space” within the workplace and away from our desks that will allow think with a clear head. How do we create the framework to encourage these positive behaviours.
Organisations should not panic and stick to business plans that continue to support and invest in diversity – it is as important as ever.
Investing in Scottish talent and your local community
The lack of female talent coming through education is well documented and some of the strategies to plug this gap (which are also used to address pricing competition) such as near and offshoring, 100% remote working and the as yet not entirely known impact of AI can have the unintended consequence of exacerbating the problem.
If we are not connected to our local community how can we influence new talent pipelines and also importantly be connected to what lies around us. What are we optimising for? What connection to place does your work need to have? As AI automates some tech and we outsource roles if we are not careful there is going to be a whole layer of people that cease to exist. Disconnect to community can create a very different environment and the bottom might fall out if we don’t do all the other bits.
It was noted that essential corporate training around EDI focuses on what could be deemed sue-able activity but activity that is focused on simply being a good colleague is optional. This is wrong and also sends out a bad message.
The education curriculum
We need to get more young people interested and the Scottish curriculum needs to address this but solutions need to be sought beyond high school education. It was noted that the skills gap is evident by the age of 11. The lack of teachers and the difficulty in recruiting computing teachers is an ongoing issue. The ratio of girls to boys in computing classes from S3 upwards is woeful and young people do not always see how transferable skills and knowledge are and this is pertinent even at university level.
Schools appear to see AI as purely a way of cheating rather than teaching child how to understand, use and interrogate it to develop new skills and increase learning.
The question was raised, with no easy answers, as to how we get girls engaged at a young age.
Empathy and meta skills
The lack of empathy in male colleagues to their female counterparts was raised by many. Women often mask, they are likely to have more complex health issues, and when they speak up are criticised for being too emotional. All the age-old tropes appear to remain in place.
Meta and soft skills training for men and boys is required to develop self-awareness, stronger emotional intelligence, communication skills, and empathy. It was observed that men have “lost their place” and guidance should start from school (it is easier to learn early). However, it was countered that learning has to continue through life, each time we start a new pathway (education, career, personal) we need a reset. Whilst large organisations may have budget to deliver training and support, small organisations may not and the financial onus should be with the state.
It is not just about empathy. It should be acknowledged that male and female brains are not exactly the same. The world is designed around an average male (which isn’t even representative of most men) so systems and expectations are put in place which are not fit for purpose. This is not acknowledged enough.
Micro aggressions (they are macro)
A final point was made about micro-aggressions which were referenced throughout. They should not be called micro when their impact is often macro, with the “chip away impact” leading people to leave jobs and change lives.
Closing remarks
– How can organisations work together to do something useful for the young people?
– We need to bring and keep the Scottish Government in the conversation – solving the gender gap is a huge boon for the Scottish Economy.
– Right now the best we can do is make sure bias is not happening in our organisations, always challenge, be an ally and an ambassador.
A very big thank you to Sarah, Sarah and Sara and the Diversity in Tech Group at the People’s Postcode Lottery for leading and hosting an excellent morning of insightful discussion.
Further Reading and Resources:
BCS diversity report 2024: Addressing the under-representation of women in technology
BCS diversity report 2024: Addressing the under-representation of women in technology | BCS
Tech Talent Charter: Attrition in Tech report: Data from 2023
Attrition in tech – Tech Talent Charter
2025 Lovelace Report
2025 Lovelace Report
Closing the Gap for a Promising Economic Future. By The Data Lab
The research also explores equality and inclusion within the skills development context. You can view the framework, explore our findings, and, by filling in the form, request a copy of the white paper via this link: https://thedatalab.com/academy/professional-development/skills-framework/
James Withers’ Independent Review of the Skills Delivery Landscape
Skills review published – gov.scot
Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
Invisible Women | Caroline Criado Perez
AND Digital Reports
Publications