How many women are there in your IT department?

The challenge of getting women into senior leadership roles within law firms has been well documented, but smart managing partners may have noticed that gender diversity is also problematic in their IT departments.

Gender-diverse IT departments have been shown to demonstrate improved employee performance and to produce work teams that stay on schedule and under budget, according to research by the National Center for Women & Information Technology in the US. So, hiring women is good for your cost base.

Last week, business leaders (including Susan Bowen, chief of staff for HP in the UK & Ireland, and Jacqueline de Rojas, area VP at Citrix and Computer Weekly’s ‘most influential woman in UK IT’) assembled at Goodman Derrick’s offices to debate the causes behind Martha Lane Fox's observation that there are more women in the House of Lords than there are in British tech companies.

Granted, the problem presents itself slightly differently in tech than it does in the legal sector. In the former, the issue is attracting women in the first place (only 300 took the computer science A-level in 2014) while, in the latter, it is getting them to stay. But, the solutions discussed by the panel last week are all too familiar: flexible working; reducing the cost of childcare; mentoring schemes and grassroots initiatives by universities. Quotas and shortlists were also considered, but not welcomed by the panel overall.

Some practical ideas which could be borrowed immediately by law firms and implemented throughout the organisation include six-week 'tech courses' to bring maternity leave returners up to date with new systems and, for larger firms, hiring executive coaches to mentor senior-level returnees through their transition back to work.

Involving men in gender diversity initiatives was seen by the panel as being a key element in ensuring success. They agreed that men have an important role to play in bringing about solutions and said that it was refreshing to see a high turnout of men, alongside women, at this event.

With both the legal and tech sectors considering similar solutions to the same challenges at the same time, perhaps it is time for senior figureheads from both fields to put their heads together.

ARK Group’s evening networking event ‘Women In Legal’ will take place on Thursday 3 December in London. For more details, please email sabina.begum@wilmingtonplc.com

Managing Partner is published by ARK Group, a division of Wilmington plc