Is there a motherhood penalty in tech? 

More than ever, gender equality in the workplace is under scrutiny – and it’s a particularly hot topic in the tech sector, where male dominance and a gender wage gap is a stubbornly persistent phenomenon. 

As specialist tech recruiters, we’re seeing modern tech startups and scaleups take positive steps to empower women to establish tech as an increasingly equal and diverse profession. But there is still work to be done. 

Tech startups and scaleups in the UK are characterised by rapid growth, boundless creativity and positive change, resulting in an explosion of technological developments that will fundamentally change the way in which we live and work. But to fully capitalise on the opportunities that exist, the tech sector needs to take action to close the gender gap and harness talent from the entire pool.  

As a tech startup or scaleup founder, you simply can’t afford to ignore the untapped potential that exists among females with children. 

Stop-start tech progression opportunities 

One of the problems facing women in any industry is that the traditional line of progression largely coincides with the prospect of starting a family. This makes an uninterrupted rise through the ranks incompatible with the lifestyle choices of many women, forcing them to choose between progressing their career or juggling employment obligations with a myriad of parenting responsibilities. 

Returning to work after having children also presents a range of challenges: common misconceptions about women’s priorities and the burden of childcare; employers reluctant to embrace flexible working; and failure to understand the demands and expectations of women balancing work and family life. 

But these issues are widespread and certainly not specific to the tech industry.  

However, throw in the challenges of working in a tech startup or scaleup – one that demands you don multiple hats, where adapting to change is a prerequisite, and where you’re expected to step outside your traditional remit at a moment’s notice – and it isn’t difficult to see why many consider tech startup life incompatible with motherhood.   

Lack of flexibility in senior tech sector roles 

As a nation, we’ve taken huge strides towards a more flexible way of working. Flexitime, hybrid and remote working, four-day weeks, condensed hours: all of these are common working patterns in the startup tech sector. 

Taking this into account, can you balance a senior management tech role with the responsibilities of motherhood – particularly when your children are young? Yes, of course you can. But the reality is that women still take up most primary care roles within families – and compared to men (or more specifically, dads), it’s women who increasingly find themselves having to balance professional success and their personal lives as the day-to-day practicalities of raising a family clash with their career expectations. 

Reducing unconscious bias in your tech startup 

It’s also worth considering those women that don’t have children but are of childbearing age. Particularly so as numerous studies point to men being more likely than women to be offered managerial positions than women of the same age.  

Why does such an imbalance of opportunity exist? Could there be an ingrained fear – or unconscious bias – around hiring women of childbearing age because of the chance that she’ll be going on maternity leave at some point in the future? 

Closing the gender gap in your tech startup 

Making the transition into a management position can be a major hurdle for womean with children, irrespective of sector.  

But employing women in senior roles within your tech startup or scaleup may also encourage other women within the business to fulfil their own aspirations - whether that’s going for a promotion, taking on a new challenge within their role, or having the confidence to put themselves forward when opportunities arise. 

Leveling the gender playing field in tech startups and tech scaleups begins with you, the founder. There is resounding consensus in the tech sector that there is a skills shortage, meaning that the battle for the top talent in this competitive market is fierce. So, our advice? Don’t limit your potential talent pool by excluding mothers and people with caring responsibilities. 

Instead introduce diversity policies, address the gender pay gap, implement flexible working practices, prioritise work-life balance and offer shared parental leave. Only then will you remove the barriers that stop talented female tech professionals from limiting their potential in tech startups, regardless of their personal circumstances. 

If you want to chat about addressing bias or inequality in your startup or scaleup, connect with our co-founder and CEO Alan Furley on LinkedIn.