What the Government's tech sector findings mean for telecoms
In March 2026, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology launched a call for evidence on what needs to change in the tech sector as it evolves to better support the entry, progression, and leadership of women. Women in Telecoms submitted a response, focusing on how emerging technologies are affecting skills, roles and career pathways in telecoms and connectivity, and what this means for women and under-represented groups. The Government recently published the findings from the call for evidence, which are very much in line with our submission.
While the report focuses on the wider UK tech sector, its findings are highly relevant to telecoms. As we highlighted in our submission, telecoms and connectivity underpin the UK’s digital infrastructure but are often under-represented in wider technology workforce debates.
What the report confirms:
- Cultural and everyday practices disadvantage women and other underrepresented groups in tech, and change is long overdue
74% of respondents agreed that improving team and organisational culture would support women's entry, progression and leadership in tech — the single most common theme raised across the whole report.
- Emerging technologies are reshaping who can enter, progress and succeed in tech - but without deliberate action, they risk entrenching existing structural barriers
84% of respondents said that emerging technologies are leading to new or significantly changed roles in their organisation or sector. As roles increasingly combine classic network engineering with software, data and AI skills, this creates real opportunity. It also creates real risk. Without equitable access to training and development, these shifts risk widening existing inequalities, as women and under-represented groups are less likely to have had early exposure to coding, data and advanced technical education.
- Not everyone is benefitting from the skills pathways and training they need to reach their potential
Access to training, upskilling and clear entry pathways is central to whether women and underrepresented groups can enter, progress and lead in tech. 74% of respondents agreed that increasing training and upskilling opportunities would support this.
Practical action is needed
Among open responses to the Government's call for evidence, the most commonly raised theme criticised short-term diversity interventions driven by compliance rather than genuine change. In our submission, we called for we called for telecoms and connectivity to be named explicitly in national STEM and digital careers initiatives, rather than folded into generic "tech" categories where the sector disappears from view — alongside structured cross-industry mentoring, sector-wide returnship programmes, and recognition of independent networks like Women in Telecoms as delivery partners, particularly for SMEs that rarely have the internal capacity to run these programmes alone.
As the UK continues to invest in digital infrastructure and emerging technologies, the people shaping those decisions must reflect the society they serve. If women and underrepresented groups are not part of that future, the sector loses talent, perspective and innovation.
What happens next?
The evidence gathered through this process will now inform the ongoing work of the Women in Tech Taskforce launched by DSIT to address the systemic barriers that prevent women from entering, progressing, and leading in the tech sector.
The Government findings should therefore be seen as both evidence and challenge. They show that progress is needed, but they also show where action can make a difference.
If you're not already part of the Women in Telecoms group, this is a good moment to join. It's the most direct way to have a say in initiatives like this one, and to make sure the telecoms voice keeps being heard in the wider conversation about the future of tech.