ClearBank, the UK-based cloud-based banking platform, has teamed up with Code First Girls to tackle the gender gap in fintech by actively recruiting female coders.
Code First Girls, the largest provider of free coding courses for women in the UK, partners with over 100 firms in the UK as well as abroad to actively place women in tech roles.
ClearBank joins 30 other fintech and financial services firms, including Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs, in working with Code First Girls. The financial sector represents the largest and fastest-growing percentage of the client list for Code First Girls, with both fintech and traditional banks keen to hire more women.
Recent analysis of the Labour Force Survey by the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed a significant gender gap in the tech and finance sectors. Only 18 per cent of computer programmers and software development professionals, web design professionals, and data analysts in the UK are women. Meanwhile, women comprise just three per cent of UK brokers, financial analysts, and advisers, with 203,800 men compared to 95,700 women.
Offering opportunities
In 2022, Code First Girls provided 44,861 opportunities for women to learn how to code, compared to just 6,450 women who embarked upon undergraduate computing degrees in the UK. The benefits of actively recruiting women from non-technical backgrounds include enhanced creativity in problem-solving for security threats, performance improvements, and innovation across all sectors.
Anna Brailsford, CEO of Code First Girls, expressed delight in partnering with ClearBank to help support more women enter the fintech industry and recruit female coders into its team.
She said: “There is currently a worrying gender gap, with many women facing significant barriers to entering STEM careers, starting at school and continuing throughout their lives. Varied and diverse experiences and skills will only make both the tech and finance industries stronger, bringing huge opportunities to businesses as well as the individuals themselves.
Tom Harris, ClearBank’s chief technology officer, emphasised the significance of diversity to the business, which concentrates on revolutionising the financial services industry. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with Code First Girls on this initiative, helping to get more women and non-binary people into technology roles at ClearBank.”
Code First Girls’ clients in the financial sector include NatWest Group, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Lloyds Banking Group, Experian, Credit Suisse, R3, Barclays, Legal & General, Capital One, Tesco Bank, Howdens Insurance, SwissRe, Aviva, Admiral Group, Ki Insurance/Brit, iptiQ, Zopa, Veygo, Blackrock, Fidelity, Jezby Ventures, MoneyBox, Policy Expert, MAN Group, Kayenta, Wealthify and Principality.
