Manchester Digital, the industry body representing Greater Manchester's thriving digital and tech community, has announced the launch of its Digital Her Apprenticeship programme. This groundbreaking initiative aims to increase the number of women in technical roles within the industry while providing a supportive environment for their growth and success.
Despite the growing demand for diverse talent in the tech sector, women remain underrepresented in technical roles. According to industry statistics, only 24% of women hold technical positions, and just 20% are software developers. Alarmingly, one in three women are planning to leave their tech jobs, while only one in six plan to stay in their roles for more than a year.
The Digital Her Apprenticeship programme will launch this summer, offering comprehensive training in software development over 18 months alongside mentoring, coaching and support designed specifically to develop the skills and professional confidence women need early in their careers to be successful and progress rapidly in their career as experts in their field.
Manchester Digital's Digital Her programme has been running for six years, and the new apprenticeship initiative builds upon the learnings and insights gained from the programme's 360+ strong Digital Her community to create a bespoke programme to build the female software developer workforce of the future - right here in Manchester.
This isn't just about providing opportunities; it's about sustaining environments where women can truly thrive. Ultimately for better business outcomes.
How to get involved
The Digital Her Apprenticeship will launch in June 2024.
If you’d like to join forces with Manchester Digital and Digital Her to hire female software developer apprentices, contact hireapprentices@manchesterdigital.com.
We’ll be working with community partners to identify a great talent pool of candidates for you, or we can support you with a preselected candidate from within your business.
