Tech sector employees face prejudice

Discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, age and neurodivergence is a major problem in the technology sector, new research reveals.


Earlier this year, the UK’s digital trade body, the British Interactive Media Association (BIMA), surveyed just under 3,500 people representing almost 5% of the UK tech workforce, to look at their experience of diversity.


The resulting study, The voices of our industry: BIMA tech inclusion & diversity report, identified urgent areas needing improvement in the workplace with over a fifth (22%) of respondents reporting that their career progression has been discriminated against in some way. This number rises among women, of whom 35% believe their gender has negatively affected their career progression. 


Ethnicity is also a significant factor, with 40% of Afro-Caribbean and mixed heritage respondents and almost one third (31%) of Asian and Southeast Asian respondents saying they have experienced negative discrimination as a result of their ethnicity.


Just under a quarter of neurodivergent employees (those with conditions including autism, ADHD, dyslexia and dyscalculia) in the tech sector have reported negative discrimination — a big issue in an industry with twice the UK average of neurodivergent people. 


The report points out that while many technology companies have specific initiatives to recruit people with neurodivergence, the results suggest growth and development structures may not always be sufficient.