TechHer digital skills programme to expand in 2025: ‘If I did it, any woman can do it’ - Microsoft UK Stories (original) (raw)

The technology sector faces a challenge: how to encourage more women into this traditionally male-dominated industry.

While the situation has been improving gradually, the fact remains that although women represent 49% of the UK’s working population, just 29% are in technology roles.

Microsoft’s TechHer programme addresses this challenge head on, offering free introductory courses for women across the public and private sectors on a range of topics, from AI to Azure, Power Platform to Security.

In 2024, nearly 4,000 women across UK government departments went through Module One of Microsoft’s ‘Fundamentals’ online training course, which involves just one hour a week for five weeks, explains Jane Pitt, who founded TechHer in 2016.

Such is the demand for the course, the TechHer team is planning more: “One for health and social care, another one for government, and one for retail,” says Jane.

Safe space

Feedback from TechHer attendees has been overwhelmingly positive, says Paul Griffiths, who oversees the programme. Many praised the approachability and helpfulness of the female trainers, as well as the engaging and easily understandable nature of the content.

One woman said she “felt it was a safe space to learn without judgement”. And it’s this aspect that Jane believes is the key to TechHer’s success.

“Many women worry they won’t fit in and will feel self-conscious. So we’re about giving women confidence that this industry does have a place for them in it.

“We tell stories and talk generally about different types of technology and what they can do in a relatable way. We don’t do detailed technical training – coding, for example – there’s tonnes of that content out there if women want that.

“We’re more about exploring the interface between technology and humanity, it’s impact on the way we live, which is appealing to women, I think.”

Inspiring role model

Jane’s own career story should be an inspiration to women who think they could never break into the world of technology.

An English graduate, she wanted to be a writer and started out in television in London’s Soho. But the initial excitement soon wore off. Her post-production experience brought her into contact with editing technology, which she found more appealing.

TechHer founder Jane Pitt started out in TV but went on to forge a successful career in technology

“So I left the industry, set up and sold a business, then moved into datacentre engineering, and then into cloud.

“I’m an infrastructure engineer dealing with the physical stuff – computers, networks, datacentres. I don’t code; I can’t write software; but I have a career in technology.”

And being a role model for other women is crucially important, Jane feels.

“If I did it, any woman can do it.”

Transferable skills

She points out that many of the skills women learn in other industries are equally relevant to the technology sector.

“Communications is huge,” she says. “Most of what we do is all about communications – talking to people, showing empathy, problem-solving and being resilient and determined. You can just layer the technology on top.

“I have a problem-solving brain and I love puzzles. And for me that was the transferable skill.”

Battling prejudice

But it was entering the tech world that made her realise just what a chauvinist place it could be for a woman. Her experiences made her determined to change things for the better.

“Back in the days when I was datacentre engineer, there weren’t any other women and you had to change into someone else to fit in.

“As a runner, I found common ground with some of the blokes through sport. But socialising with heavy-drinking rugby players who liked going to strip clubs and casinos wasn’t my thing, so I felt excluded a lot of the time.”

And being overlooked for promotion because male bosses couldn’t conceive of a woman managing a team of men was frustrating and demoralising, she admits.

But when she joined Microsoft, she realised “things could be different, and that’s why I founded TechHer. I didn’t have to be one of the blokes, I could just be me.”

In demand

Jane had noticed that few women ever attended training courses, so she decided to set something up just for them. She advertised the event on LinkedIn expecting interest from about 10 women but was amazed when 120 showed up.

“It was incredibly popular,” she says, “and very well received. It really took me by surprise.”

There was a clear demand for women-only courses and the community of interested women grew and grew. Even when Covid necessitated the courses moving online, Jane says “we trained about 900 women through the pandemic, teaching them tech fundamentals”.

TechHer expanded, running programmes for women returning to work after career breaks, for example, and working with private sector companies and government departments (such as HMRC) keen to increase diversity in their workforces.

“We went all over the country – London, Reading, Manchester, Edinburgh,” says Jane.

Social value

And the TechHer programme isn’t just a ‘nice-to-have’ initiative to make Microsoft look good, Jane emphasises, it is having a significant measurable impact.

Microsoft has estimated that for a cohort of 1,500 women attending the TechHer digital ‘bootcamps’, the expected five-year total economic benefit in terms of future income and avoided training costs is an impressive £70,000 per person.

Click on the image to find out more about how Microsoft creates and measures social value in the UK

Equipped with their new skills, Microsoft anticipates that these women will earn 33% more than they did before the programme.

Given the scheme’s success, it’s no wonder the TechHer team now aims to reach 6,000 women working in the public sector through a number of new courses planned for 2025.

Simon Lambert, Chief Learning Officer, Microsoft UK, says: “The great success of our TechHer programme shows just how much of a demand there is out there among women to learn new digital skills and participate in the AI economy.

“We’re deeply committed to TechHer at Microsoft, and I’m excited by what the participants will achieve next.”