A fifth (18%) of companies within London’s tech community still have no women at board level, according to a survey by Tech London Advocates.
The annual Tech London Advocates Women in Tech Leadership Index, would that within nearly half (48%) of tech businesses women hold less than a quarter of senior management roles.
Only one in four (23%) tech companies have senior management teams that reflect the gender diversity of London’s population.
The lack of representation of women in senior positions has led 60% of those surveyed to state that the capital's tech companies still do not reflect the diversity of the city - an unchanged finding from the previous study, despite industry-wide calls for increased diversity.
However, there are causes for optimism, TLA said. Whilst female CEOs represent just 5% of FTSE 100 companies and 4% of the FTSE 250, a fifth (21%) of tech companies involved in the research had a female chief executive.
In addition, 60% of London’s technology community acknowledged their business has actively taken steps to increase diversity in recruitment strategies.
Russ Shaw, founder of Tech London Advocates, said: “Technology’s gender problem has not gone away. Female CEOs have been instrumental to the rise of London’s tech sector, creating some of the city’s most exciting businesses, but the lack of wider representation for women at senior levels is shameful.
“London Technology Week is an opportunity to celebrate the opportunities technology companies hold for all Londoners, cutting across age, gender and background. Simply put, failing to harness the creative potential of those currently under-represented in the industry makes bad business sense.”
Bindi Karia, Tech London Advocates advisory board member, said: “Many of the leading founders in London’s technology sector are women and their achievements should be celebrated around the world. As a tech investor, I’m always interested in the companies demonstrating genuine creativity and disruption. Diverse leadership teams are invariably behind the businesses that meet this criteria.”
