STEM Women research revealed that women only represent 15 per of the workforce for STEM jobs, highlighting a clear diversity gap in core high potential industries.

FDM’s bootcamp, which finished on International Women’s Day, served to help bridge the gap for women pursuing careers in the tech industry, providing coding skills and mentoring sessions, culminating in a major showcase on March 8th.

Moesha Keswani, a student in the SheLivesTech bootcamp, said: “Today has definitely encouraged me to consider a career in development. I’d never tried it before, I don’t come from a tech degree background and I found it really interesting and enjoyed it.”

The showcase celebrated each of the women who participated in the course, alongside a Confidence Workshop and a networking session with FDM staff to learn about the tech industry.

Sheila Flavell, Chief Operating Officer for FDM Group, commented: “Promoting women in tech is incredibly important and every participant in the SheLivesTech initiative should be celebrated for their achievements. May women still find it very challenging to break into the technology industry, which is why FDM is committed to providing the support, resources and training to enable female candidates to thrive. It is essential that organisations do their utmost to remove perceived barriers, providing opportunities, training and support, and clear career progression to those looking to join the technology sector.”

“We are incredible proud to host the SheLivesTech programme and hope it will inspire each participant to pursue a career in the industry. Our commitment to providing training, support and opportunities to females aspiring to enter the sector is at the core of the business and we look forward to hosting more female-driven skills programmes in the coming months.”

Tahiyah Johura, part of the cohort, said: “I’ve never done anything like this before, I’d never considered working in web dev but today has really made me want to pursue it. I felt a lot of imposter syndrome when previously looking into tech roles, but today’s experience made me feel really comfortable as we were all on the same level.”

FDM Group has an ongoing commitment to diversity in the workplace, recording a -4 per cent mean gender pay gap in 2022 and promoting a series of initiatives aimed to promote women in tech to foster a supportive environment where women feel comfortable to learn and develop alongside like-minded people.