Gender and IT employment

There were 312,000 female IT specialists in the UK workforce during 2020 - 19% of the total at that time. As illustrated in the chart below, the level of female representation in IT has increased marginally over the past five years and by two percentage points over the 2019-20 period. That said, female representation remains well below the level observed within the workforce as a whole (48%).

Trends in workforce representation (2016-20)

Source: Analysis of ONS Quarterly Labour Force Survey by BCS

If the level of representation for female workers in IT specialist positions was equal to that amongst the working age population as a whole, there would have been 778,000 women in IT roles in the UK in 2020 i.e., approximately 466,000 more than the number recorded.

Representation across the UK

Amongst the UK nations / regions, Yorkshire / Humberside was associated with the lowest level of female representation amongst IT specialists in 2020 and at that time, just 15% of IT specialists working in the region were women. By contrast, Scotland and the North East displayed the best ‘gender balance’, with women accounting for 23% and 22% respectively of IT specialists in these areas.

Workforce gender representation by nation / region (2020)

Source: Analysis of ONS Quarterly Labour Force Survey by BCS
* Five-year average