At the end of November, consultant Rachel Sim was delighted to represent dressCode at DigitExpo, hosted at the EICC in Edinburgh. The event played host to 1700+ attendees, 40+ exhibitors and 50+ industry leaders and delivered presentations about the tech landscape covering AI, leadership and future technologies, along with a vast breadth of other topics. Rachel highlights one of the key conversations she had on the day and provides an overview of dressCode’s initiatives and goals below.
dressCode is a charity that aspires to close the gender gap in Computing Science, as well as engage, inspire and raise awareness of opportunities in the world of tech. For the DigitExpo event, I was joined on the stand by charity founder Toni Scullion, my colleague Christina McLean, and dressCode alumni Amina Tahir.
Amina shared with me her first-hand experience of being involved in the dressCode initiative:
“I first got involved with dressCode through Toni, my computing teacher at the time.
It began with volunteering at our lunchtime coding club, where I helped younger students with programming. We also participated in hackathons and competitions, but noticed a significant gap in accessibility. This inspired us to organise our own event, which turned out to be highly successful with schools all over Scotland attending.
Although I’m now in the legal field, my experience with dressCode provided me with invaluable skills such as problem-solving, which was crucial for my time at University. Through dressCode, I also became more confident in my public speaking skills, which had a great impact on me as an aspiring Lawyer. Overall, dressCode provides a very positive community where everyone is supportive of each other. This environment allowed me to foster many skills.”
Women make up about 28% of the technology workforce globally. The percentage is even lower in highly technical roles such as software engineering and cybersecurity. Many women report exclusion, sexism, and lack of representation and support in this male-dominated environment, resulting in a gender imbalance and women frequently leaving the sector. However, the challenges for the industry start at a far younger point. Girls are often discouraged from studying STEM subjects due to cultural norms, lack of encouragement and awareness of opportunities.
dressCode was founded by Toni Scullion, a Computing Science teacher who found a significant lack of girls in the STEM subject classrooms (a trend backed up by other educators and data). Determined to change perceptions of the subject and industry which she was so passionate about, Toni founded dressCode to encourage girls to Choose Computing Science through a number of initiatives and goals:
- Teach: We introduce and engage girls to the wonder of Computing Science and inspire girls to create things through code!
- Raise Awareness: We raise awareness of the importance of Computing Science and the amazing opportunities available in tech.
- Encourage: We support and encourage girls to take their ideas and bring them to life through code!
The gender gap in technology is not just a matter of equality, but also impacts innovation, creativity, and the economy with a huge skills shortage. Creating a future where these challenges are targeted requires a collaborative approach between education, government and industry.
As an executive search consultant specialising in the technology sector, I have seen first hand the disparity between male and female representation at senior levels in the field of technology. Throughout 2024, Livingston James has hosted several events aimed at connecting industry to education, with Toni delivering presentations about the current challenges and how industry professionals can support the next generation, bolstering equality in the sector by acting as role models.
The DigitExpo event facilitated conversations with a broad range of representatives across the sector, raised awareness of challenges, and shared ways people can support a more gender balanced sector to help close the skills and gender gap. In 2025, we will be continuing our work with dressCode and the events in partnership with Toni Scullion. If you are interested in getting involved, please contact Rachel at [email protected] to find out how you can contribute.
