The tech sector is driving growth in jobs and investment across the UK. Despite this, disparity in representation and venture capital investment for underrepresented groups remains.
This is why Tech Nation has launched a Diversity & Inclusion Toolkit that will help founders and employees build more diverse and inclusive businesses, and provide equal opportunities for everyone aspiring to work in UK tech
Many UK tech companies have taken significant steps in implementing diversity and inclusion strategies and are now seeing positive results in not only the makeup of their workforce, but in the productivity and success of their companies.
But despite improvements, recent data shows how far the sector still has to go. Extend Ventures has revealed that in 2019, entrepreneurs from Black, South Asian, East Asian and Middle Eastern backgrounds received just 1.7% of UK VC investment.
Over the past decade, only 3% of VC funding went to all female teams.
The toolkit aims to celebrate success already achieved in tackling diversity and inclusion, while providing the resources to close disparities which still exist in the sector.
What is a diversity and inclusion strategy?
Any diversity and inclusion strategy should target every part of a tech company, from gathering diversity data, setting a diversity and inclusion budget, and minimising bias in product development.
If companies fail to take these steps, disparity in representation and venture capital investment will only continue.
How can Tech Nation’s Toolkit help?
Created from interviews conducted with UK tech leaders, and in collaboration with The Unmistakables and Futureproof, the toolkit offers guidance to help founders scale diverse and inclusive companies.
The toolkit will include checklists, links to tools and resources, and case studies bringing to light companies who have brought positive change to their diversity strategy.
The toolkit comes at a pivotal moment to boost job creation, strengthen the economy and close gender and ethnicity diversity gaps within an ever-growing sector.
It comes after it was revealed that VC investment in tech broke new records in the first quarter of 2021, reaching $7.6B. Today, almost 10% of all UK jobs are in tech.
The continually updated Toolkit is therefore hoping to reflect the changing tech landscape, by putting forward new diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Rowena Knapp, COO at Tech Nation, said: “When it comes to achieving equality in the UK’s tech sector, we still have a long way to go. Tech companies and their founders need to have a comprehensive toolkit they can turn to help them address diversity issues head-on.”
“As we look to rebuild a stronger economy and society, equal opportunity and representation within the tech sector has never been more important.”
A link to the D&I Toolkit can be found here.
