International Women’s Day is here, a time for all those who care about women’s equality to celebrate the achievements of women both contemporary and historical and to focus on gender equality in our society.

The tech sector still has a sizable gender divide, with only around one quarter of all tech roles held by women. Tech leaders need to enter into open dialogue over how to make tech careers more attractive to women and to empower women within their workforce.

In this episode, Rory speaks to Elizabeth Barr, head of the Cisco Networking Academy in the UK, Ireland, and Nordics, to explore what International Women’s Day means in 2025 and how young women are entering tech.

• Women in tech think the industry has changed for the better, but there’s still more work to be done
• Women in tech are being forced out of work by the ‘motherhood penalty’
• The women returning to tech – and why they left
• “We are influencing generations to come”: Improving the picture for women in tech through cultural changes
• Supporting female founders in tech
• The company-wide benefits of mentorship in tech