Call for more women in the IT sector

More needs to be done to promote IT jobs to young women in Britain, according to one expert.

Jan Peters, Women's Forum Manager at the British Computer Society, said that the issue begins at school, where 'IT is almost invisible' as a career path for females.

She explained that women at this age are not told about the variety of IT career options that are available, which means they do not consider applying for apprenticeships in the industry.

'We need to be encouraging girls to look at a broader selection of apprenticeships, so we are not just looking at people going into IT and computing through [the] degree route,' Ms Peters added.

She said that 'the whole spectrum' of possibilities should be presented to women from a young age.

Recent research by Garnet and e-skills UK found a gender gap in the IT sector, with 51% of women saying that the field did not appeal to them.