Government initiatives aim to increase women’s participation in technology, strengthening innovation, skills development, and economic growth.
The UK government has announced a package of measures designed to increase female participation in the technology sector, creating new career opportunities and addressing long-standing workforce gaps. The initiative introduces funding, job placements, education programmes, and policy research aimed at supporting women at every stage of their careers.
For the digital construction sector, which increasingly depends on technologies such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, and digital modelling, expanding the technology talent pipeline is becoming essential. Improving access to technology careers for women could help address critical skills shortages while strengthening innovation across digital infrastructure, smart construction, and built environment technology.
Support women entering technology careers
A central element of the initiative is the new £4 million TechFirst Women’s Programme, designed to support women seeking careers in technology. The programme will fund paid placements for at least 300 women across small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK.
Each placement will last a minimum of six months and is intended to provide hands-on experience in technical roles. Participants will also receive coaching and interview preparation to help them secure long-term employment within the sector.
The initiative aims to help businesses adopt and deploy advanced technologies while providing women with structured pathways into technology careers. SMEs, including companies working across digital construction and infrastructure technology, could benefit from access to skilled workers capable of supporting digital transformation, automation, and AI-driven processes.
Women remain underrepresented in the technology workforce, with economic analysis suggesting the UK loses between £2 billion and £3.5 billion annually when women leave the sector. The government programme is intended to reduce this loss by creating accessible routes into technical roles and supporting long-term career development.
Returnship programme for experienced software developers
In addition to supporting new entrants, the government is introducing a returnship pilot scheme aimed at experienced professionals who have taken career breaks.
The programme will support skilled software developers returning to the workforce after an absence of 18 months or longer. The initiative will initially operate within the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice, offering opportunities for professionals to re-enter senior technology roles in government.
Career breaks can often create barriers for professionals attempting to re-enter the workforce, particularly where gaps in employment history create challenges during recruitment processes. The returnship pilot seeks to address these issues by creating structured re-entry opportunities.
Many women leave technology roles temporarily for caregiving responsibilities, and programmes like this are designed to reduce the long-term career impact of those breaks. Increasing the retention and return of experienced professionals could help sectors such as digital construction maintain continuity of expertise in areas including software development, data management, and digital infrastructure.
Inspire future talent
The government’s strategy also focuses on building a stronger technology talent pipeline by engaging young people earlier in their education.
A new TechFirst Girls Competition, developed in partnership with IBM and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, will encourage thousands of girls aged 12 and 13 to explore technology skills.
The nationwide competition will challenge students to use coding, artificial intelligence, and problem-solving to address practical scenarios. Participants will gain exposure to real-world applications of technology and insight into possible future careers.
The initiative builds on the success of the CyberFirst Girls Competition, which reached more than 10,000 students earlier this year. Expanding programmes like this is considered essential for addressing gender disparities in technology-related education and employment.
For the digital construction industry, early exposure to STEM subjects and technology skills is critical. As the sector increasingly adopts digital twins, building information modelling (BIM), automation, and AI-driven project management tools, the demand for digitally skilled professionals continues to grow.
Women in tech taskforce
Alongside the new programmes, the government’s Women in Tech Taskforce has launched a national Call for Evidence to gather insights into barriers faced by women in the technology sector.
The review will examine issues including access to opportunities, career progression, workplace culture, and the potential bias embedded within emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
Technology systems developed by unrepresentative teams can create unintended outcomes. For example, research has found that AI recruitment tools may favour male candidates, while some healthcare algorithms have demonstrated lower accuracy when diagnosing conditions in women.
The taskforce aims to ensure policy decisions reflect lived experiences and address structural barriers affecting women across the technology ecosystem.
Addressing gender inequality in technology
Liz Kendall, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, emphasised the importance of addressing inequality across the technology sector.
She said: “Women aren’t being given a fair shot in tech — whether that’s getting into the sector, staying in it, or returning after time away bringing up their families. If we don’t address these issues now, we’ll still be having this conversation in decades’ time and that isn’t good enough.”
Kendall added: “We’re acting through a skills and jobs package to get more women into tech quickly. These aren’t warm words — they’re real jobs, real placements, and real routes back in through a door that has been too hard to open, for too long.”
She also highlighted the role women should play in shaping future technologies.
“But we’re not just fixing today’s problem. Through the Women in Tech Taskforce, I want to make sure women aren’t just entering this sector, they’re shaping it. Co-creating the technologies, the culture, and the future of an industry that for too long has been built without them.”
By expanding technology education, supporting returners, and funding new placements, the government aims to strengthen the UK technology workforce while enabling women to contribute to innovation shaping digital construction and future infrastructure.
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