Findmypast and Code First Girls announce new partnership

Findmypast, the technology-driven genealogy subscription service, has announced a new strategic partnership with Code First Girls (CFG), a UK-based social enterprise that provides technology training for women, to help tackle the UK’s gender gap in technology skills.

Through the partnership, Findmypast – part of DC Thomson, will fund six women on three-month CFG Degrees. Findmypast will also be providing further funding for 135 candidates with places on the eight-week CFG Kickstarter developer course, which helps students learn the fundamentals of programming.

Whilst there have been some meaningful inroads in recent years, the pandemic has had a regressive effect on gender representation in the workplace. Only 24% of individuals in UK STEM roles are female, meaning women are still severely under-represented in the sector.

Findmypast and Code First Girls are both dedicated to encouraging more women to pursue a career in tech and the strategic partnership will support Findmypast’s diversity and inclusion working group in its efforts to create an inclusive environment.

Findmypast has an encouraging 60:40 female representation at executive level, but the business recognises that there is still more work to be done to balance gender representation throughout the rest of the workforce. This partnership is central to Findmypast’s strategic action plan and is one of many initiatives aimed at driving the necessary change within the business.

Tamsin Todd, CEO, Findmypast, said: “We’re delighted to announce our new partnership with Code First Girls as part of our commitment to support more women entering the tech industry. It is critically important at a time when women’s careers have been particularly hampered by the pandemic that we continue to create the conditions for women to thrive in tech companies. While there is still much more work to be done, I am looking forward to working with Code First Girls to bring more women to the sector.”