Dr Ismini Vasileiou, founder and director of the East Midlands Cyber Security Cluster

(EMCSC) and a member of the Government’s Women in Tech Taskforce, has been

selected as an ambassador to support the development of new national standards

addressing workplace barriers and investment inequalities facing women in

Technology.

 

The Government has announced a new initiative to improve opportunities for women

working in technology and female founders, with two proposed voluntary standards

focused on workplace culture, career progression and access to investment.

 

As a member of the Government’s Women in Tech Taskforce, Dr Vasileiou has

contributed to its Culture and Accountability workstream, helping examine the

organisational barriers affecting women’s progression and leadership in technology

and how these can inform the development of practical, voluntary commitments for

Employers.

 

Her involvement has focused particularly on workplace culture, organisational

accountability and the importance of ensuring that proposed measures can work for

businesses of different sizes.

 

Her ambassador appointment builds on this work, supporting the next phase of

engagement with industry to co-create standards that employers and investors can

put into practice.

 

Proposed measures include salary transparency in job adverts, trusted routes for

reporting harassment and fairer investment practices to support women starting and

growing technology businesses.

 

Women in tech: improving workplace culture and career progression

 

Women make up just 22% of the digital workforce. The government’s announcement points

to evidence that closing participation gaps could add up to £4 billion a year to UK GDP.

Workplace culture is a significant part of that challenge. Research cited in the announcement

found that 74% of respondents believe a better workplace culture would support women’s

progression and leadership in technology.

 

The proposed ‘Tech Forward Standard’ will seek to encourage more inclusive workplace

practices. Commitments in this could include measures such as salary transparency in job

adverts and trusted harassment reporting routes so workers feel safe to come forward.

 

These measures would address practical issues affecting women’s experiences at work,

from understanding the pay on offer when applying for a role to having confidence that

concerns can be raised safely.

 

Through the Taskforce’s Culture and Accountability workstream, Dr Vasileiou has

emphasised the importance of moving beyond voluntary commitments that express good

intentions towards approaches that encourage meaningful organisational accountability.

 

This includes considering how employers can demonstrate progress in workplace culture,

fair progression and leadership opportunities, and how the standards can be made practical

for smaller businesses as well as larger technology organisations.

 

Dr Vasileiou, an Associate Professor at De Montfort University, said: “Through the

Taskforce’s work on Culture and Accountability, we’ve been looking beyond the barriers

women face when entering technology to examine the organisational practices that influence

whether they stay, progress and lead.

 

“The development of these standards gives us an opportunity to translate evidence into

practical commitments that employers can act on. For me, accountability is particularly

important. We need to move beyond statements of intent and consider how organisations

can demonstrate meaningful progress.

 

“My ambassador role builds on this work, and through EMCSC I also want to ensure that

businesses across our region, particularly SMEs, have an opportunity to contribute to the

development of these standards.”

 

Women founders: tackling barriers to venture capital investment

 

For women founders, securing financial backing remains a substantial barrier. Just 2p of every £1

invested in UK venture capital funding goes to women-founded businesses.

The proposed ‘Inclusive Investment Standard’ will explore commitments to make the route to

funding fairer and more transparent.

 

These could include broadening the channels investors use to find businesses and tracking

the progress of women-led companies from their initial pitch through to funding decisions.

Understanding where founders drop out of that process would help identify where change is

needed. The potential economic opportunity is considerable. Enabling women to start and scale

businesses at the same rate as men could unlock £310 billion for the UK economy.

 

Women in Tech Taskforce: co-creating voluntary standards

 

The next phase of the initiative will bring together Taskforce members, ambassadors,

employers and investors to co-create the commitments underpinning the two proposed

Standards.

 

For Dr Vasileiou, this represents a continuation of her work on organisational culture and

accountability, with an opportunity to engage directly with industry on how the proposed

measures can be implemented in different organisational settings.

 

The Taskforce is expected to reconvene in November to take forward this work, ahead of the

formal launch of the standards.

 

For employers and investors, the development of these standards creates an opportunity to

examine the practices that influence who progresses in technology and which businesses

receive backing. Dr Vasileiou will help co-create the commitments intended to support that

change.

 

EMCSC will support the next phase by engaging its regional industry networks and bringing

perspectives from employers, SMEs and the wider technology sector into the co-creation

process.

 

This builds on the cluster’s established work connecting academia, industry and

government, and reflects Dr Vasileiou’s wider focus on bridging the gap between national

policy ambitions and practical organisational change.

 

Through this work, Dr Vasileiou and EMCSC aim to help ensure that national commitments

are informed by the realities facing businesses and can translate into meaningful changes in

workplace culture, accountability and opportunities for women across the technology sector.