Response to the DSIT Women in Tech Taskforce call for evidence: 'Building a future tech sector that works for everyone'
Executive Summary
Women remain significantly underrepresented in the technology workforce. The cost of this underrepresentation is substantial for individuals and society. Higher Education (HE) is a critical stage in this pipeline where cultural norms are established and young women make lasting decisions about their relationship with technology, developing the confidence and sense of belonging that inform whether they enter and remain in the tech workforce. HE is vital to improving entry, progression, retention, and leadership for women in the tech sector.
This response draws multi-method intensive qualitative doctoral research (Li, forthcoming, 2026) examining women’s identity construction in computing education at UK research-intensive universities. This research shows that interventions based solely on increasing access to computing and the tech sector are unlikely to succeed without addressing educational environments and the cultural norms of computing that shape everyday participation. Students’ engagement with computing is influenced by classroom interactions, assessment structures, teachers’ expectations, peer dynamics, and implicit norms. These dynamics shape how women students in computing position themselves in relation to the field and make career commitments. Understanding this foundation is essential. Engaging with education as a site of early identity formation and cultural reproduction offers a sustainable route to change. The evidence presented in this response highlights how targeted interventions in educational contexts can contribute directly to building a more inclusive, resilient, and diverse tech workforce.
The submission offers the following policy recommendations:
- Strengthen links between education, industry and employment pathways: expand opportunities for placements, internships, and returner programmes, to provide clearer and more accessible transitions into the tech workforce.
- Develop national guidance to shape inclusive definitions of technical ability.
- Embed real-world problem-solving in computing curricula at school-, further- and higher education levels: support extracurricular and project-based initiatives that enable students to engage in applied, real-world problem-solving.
- Embed inclusive curriculum design principles within national guidance for computing education by including structured pathways, scaffolded learning, and flexible entry points, to support students with diverse prior experiences and improve retention;
- Support qualitative research into the diverse experiences of woman and underrepresented groups in computing education.
Authors
Xiaohan Li, Doctoral Researcher, Centre for Research in Inclusion, Southampton Education School, University of Southampton.
Dr Sarah Lewthwaite, Principal Research Fellow, Co-Director, Centre for Research in Inclusion, Southampton Education School, University of Southampton.
