Inspiring women: key lessons from my mentors

Succeeding as a woman in tech is no easy thing. Currently, only about 20% of UK tech workers are women. What's more, as many as 60,000 women leave the sector every year; a churn rate that may well be linked to the fact that 50% of women in tech earn below average pay for their level. As the world marks another International Women's Day, the tech industry is still searching for an answer to its yawning and persistent gender gap.

Part of the problem is the lack of women in senior roles. As of 2025, just 21% of senior tech leadership positions were held by women. Without diverse voices in leadership positions, there's a risk that tech products become skewed towards men, leaving them poorly suited to female needs or even unsafe for women to use (imagine, for example, health tech that's been calibrated around male data). 

The lack of women leaders also exacerbates the gender gap. Female students considering a career in tech look at the industry leaders and rarely, if ever, see someone like them. According to one study, 78% of students can't name a famous female working in technology. Why should they aspire to a career in the sector when the route to the top looks cut off.

Throughout my career, I have been lucky enough to have encountered inspirational female leaders and be mentored by them. I know from firsthand experience just how important female leadership is to encourage women like me into tech roles and to set our sights on leadership positions. So, on this International Women' s Day, I'd like to share some of the lessons they taught me. In doing so, I hope I can help young women at the start of their careers in tech achieve all that they are capable of.

• Be assertive. The most inspiring women leaders I've worked with have been clear-eyed about what they and their teams need and relentless in securing it. For some women, assertiveness doesn't always come naturally, particularly in male-dominated environments where the loudest voice is often heard first. Yet it is a vital leadership skill. And like any skill, it can be learned and mastered.
• Be authentic. Although assertiveness is key, it should not come at the expense of authenticity. In my experience, women leaders who are not afraid to show up as themselves allow their best qualities to shine. Doing so they increase their impact and improve the teams they lead. The most inspiring women leaders I've worked with have been unapologetically themselves. They understand that their unique perspective and style are amongst their strongest assets.
• Be meticulous. Finally, the best leaders I have worked with showed me the value of truly understanding the ecosystem within which you operate. They impressed on me the importance of taking time to learn how technology works and what other departments were responsible for. Grasping how the pieces fit together, these leaders could communicate more effectively with clients, collaborate better with their teams, and make better decisions.

I am something of a rarity in the tech sector. From my early days at an all-girls' school right through my working life, I've had access to strong female role models who have helped me carve out a career in this exciting and rewarding sector. My only hope is that within the next few years, my example becomes the rule rather than the exception as more women take leadership roles in tech businesses. It's a development that's now well overdue, and one that would ultimately benefit everyone: women workers, tech businesses, and female consumers of tech products. Let's make it happen.