Microsoft’s TechHer Initiative Empowers Women in Tech
The technology sector is undergoing a crucial transformation, aiming to encourage greater female participation in what has historically been a male-dominated field. Although the situation is improving, it’s a fact that women constitute 49% of the UK’s working population, yet only 29% occupy technology roles.
Microsoft’s TechHer program is directly addressing this imbalance by providing free introductory courses for women across both public and private sectors. The courses cover various topics, including AI, Azure, Power Platform, and Security. In 2024 alone, nearly 4,000 women from UK government departments completed Module One of Microsoft’s ‘Fundamentals’ online training course, which requires just one hour of commitment per week for five weeks, explains Jane Pitt, who founded TechHer in 2016. Due to substantial demand, the TechHer team is expanding: “One for health and social care, another one for government, and one for retail,” says Jane.
Feedback from TechHer attendees has been overwhelmingly positive, according to Paul Griffiths, who oversees the program. Many women have celebrated the approachability and helpfulness of the female trainers, along with the engaging and easily understandable content. One participant stated that she “felt it was a safe space to learn without judgement.” Jane believes this aspect is key to TechHer’s success.
“Many women worry they won’t fit in and will feel self-conscious. So we’re about giving women confidence that this industry does have a place for them,” Jane explains. “We tell stories and talk generally about different types of technology and what they can do in a relatable way. We don’t do detailed technical training – coding, for example – there’s tonnes of that content out there if women want that. We’re more about exploring the interface between technology and humanity, and its impact on the way we live, which is appealing to women, I think.”
Jane’s career is a powerful example for women considering a shift into technology. She began in television after graduating with an English degree, aspiring to become a writer. However, she found greater interest in the editing technology she encountered through her work. She decided to transition, ultimately starting and selling a business before moving into datacentre engineering and later, cloud computing. “I’m an infrastructure engineer dealing with the physical stuff—computers, networks, datacentres. I don’t code; I can’t write software; but I have a career in technology.”
Jane emphasizes the importance of being a role model for other women. “If I did it, any woman can do it.”
She also notes the transferability of skills from other industries to the tech sector. “Communications is huge,” she states. “Most of what we do is all about communications—talking to people, showing empathy, problem-solving, and being resilient and determined. You can just layer the technology on top. I have a problem-solving brain and I love puzzles. And for me that was the transferable skill.”
However, entering the tech world made her realize its sometimes chauvinistic environment for women. Her experience fueled her determination to initiate positive change.
“Back in the days when I was datacentre engineer, there weren’t any other women and you had to change into someone else to fit in.” She found connecting with colleagues was challenging. “Being overlooked for promotion because male bosses couldn’t conceive of a woman managing a team of men was frustrating and demoralising.” She realized “things could be different” when she joined Microsoft, “and that’s why I founded TechHer. I didn’t have to be one of the blokes, I could just be me.”
Jane identified that women were underrepresented in training courses and decided to create events specifically for them. She advertised on LinkedIn expecting roughly 10 responses, but instead, 120 women showed up. “It was incredibly popular,” she recalls, “and very well received. It really took me by surprise.” This demonstrated a clear demand for women-only courses, fostering a growing community. Even when the courses moved online during the pandemic, “we trained about 900 women through the pandemic, teaching them tech fundamentals,” says Jane.
TechHer expanded, establishing programs for women returning to work after career breaks and collaborating with private sector companies and government departments, like HMRC, seeking to improve workforce diversity. “We went all over the country—London, Reading, Manchester, Edinburgh,” Jane shares.
The TechHer program is not just a strategic initiative, according to Jane. It has a measurable impact. Microsoft estimates a five-year economic benefit, including future income and averted training costs, of £70,000 per person for a cohort of 1,500 women who attend the TechHer digital bootcamps. Microsoft anticipates that these women will earn 33% more than they did before the program. Because of the program’s success, the TechHer team plans to reach 6,000 public sector women via new courses scheduled for 2025.
Simon Lambert, Microsoft UK’s Chief Learning Officer, stated, “The great success of our TechHer program shows just how much of a demand there is out there among women to learn new digital skills and participate in the AI economy. We’re deeply committed to TechHer at Microsoft, and I’m excited by what the participants will achieve next.”
