Despite progress in recent years, women still remain critically underrepresented in tech roles, as is highlighted in PwC’s Women in Tech Research Report, which claims that just 23% of the people working in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) roles across the UK are female*.”

To address this, FinTech Wales and Chwarae Teg have partnered with Code First Girls, a social enterprise that provides free coding courses to women and non-binary people across the UK. As a result of this partnership, FinTech Wales has been able to offer the Code First Girls Programme to their members looking to recruit female talent, and the collaboration between academia and industry will see 10 women go through a 14 week, fully-funded, academy to achieve micro-degrees in Software, Data or Full-stack.

Gemma Hallett, Head of Skills, at FinTech Wales said “We are so proud to be working with Chwarae Teg, Code First Girls and our members to attract and retain more women in tech. FinTechs including Wealthify, Delio, and Principality Building Society have already committed to the programme with some fantastic job offers to women who have recently started their micro-degrees, and I’m talking to more members everyday, including Hodge, Monmouthshire Building Society, Sero, Pepper Money, Go.Compare and Acquis Insurance, to name just a few, who have great career opportunities and are looking to further diversify their workforce.

“Collaboration is critical, and FinTech Wales is delighted to be able to make that significant link between individuals and leading FinTechs in Wales providing employment opportunities for this newly created / much needed talent.

“Earlier this week we were thrilled to host an event with the CEO of Code First Girls, Anna Brailsford, Chwarae Teg’s newly appointed CEO, Lucy Reynolds and our members to share insights and further plans for attracting more women in tech.”

Sarah Maher, Employee Experience Lead, Wealthify said “We are thrilled to be part of this initiative, and were so impressed with the women during the interview process that we have now offered two job roles to women through this programme. As a company who has a workforce made up of 57% male and 43% female, and a senior leadership team that is 50/50 male and female, it is extremely important to us that we’re constantly looking at ways to attract and retain more women in tech.”

Bethan Baldwin, New Futures Project Manager, Chwarae Teg said: “Tech is one of the fastest growing industries in the country, with digital skills in high demand. These are lucrative careers of the future, which is why it’s imperative to unlock pathways for women to prosper and achieve fair representation within the sector. We’re thrilled to partner with FinTech Wales and Code First Girls through the New Futures project, which is led by Learning and Work Institute and funded by the Covid-19 Support Fund, to address the under-representation of women specifically in tech and digital roles across the FinTech sector. It’s encouraging to see the engagement from FinTech employers who’re eager to diversify their workforces. ”

Gemma, continues: “This is one of many initiatives FinTech Wales is working on to support the needs within the Welsh FinTech ecosystem. We’re determined to fill the skills and diversity gaps within tech, and ultimately change people’s lives with great training and job opportunities.”