International Women’s Day gives us a chance to reflect on progress and also to ask ourselves honest questions.
Are we just hiring more women into tech?
Or more importantly – are we creating careers that women can realistically sustain and progress in?
We know that attracting female talent is only part of the story. The bigger challenge is creating an environment where women want to stay.
Lisa McCafferty, Talent Acquisition Specialist, shares her views as both a recruiter and a single mum working in tech. She looks at why flexibility and confidence-building matter just as much as recruitment targets.
Flexibility isn’t a perk. It’s what makes careers possible
“As a single mum working in tech, flexibility isn’t a benefit – it’s fundamental.”
Being trusted to manage my workload and work remotely means I can balance the school run with a full-time career. That trust removes pressure and allows me to give my best both at home and at work.”
Retention often comes down to something simple: can someone realistically make this job work alongside the rest of their life?
When flexibility is part of the culture people stay. When trust flows from senior leadership down, it normalises balance rather than making it something employees have to justify.
Not every role can offer quite the same flexibility, especially if it’s client-facing tech work. But the principle remains the same: trust people and give them autonomy wherever possible to keep experienced, talented people in the business.
Attracting women is only the first step
Across the UK tech sector, the number of women applying for technical roles is still lower than it should be. That doesn’t change on its own.
I’ve found that being proactive makes a difference – reaching out directly, encouraging women to apply even if they’re unsure, and widening how we define technical potential.
Our academy partnerships with the University of Birmingham and the University of Abertay help us bring in early-career talent in software testing and penetration testing. These structured pathways allow us to identify potential, not just polished CVs.
And what we often see is this: women bring strengths that don’t always shout the loudest on paper -collaboration, organisation, calmness under pressure, and the ability to draw others into discussion. In consultancy and cyber security, those strengths are invaluable.
If we only hire for narrow technical profiles, we miss out on what makes teams truly effective.
Opening more doors into cyber
Cyber security is often seen as highly technical and intimidating – especially roles like pen testing.
But cyber is broader than many people realise.
Areas like:
- Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC)
- Security Operations Centre (SOC)
- Digital Forensics & Incident Response (DFIR)
offer accessible and great entry points. They combine analytical thinking with communication and investigation – skills that lots of candidates already have, even if they don’t label them as ‘cyber skills’.
When we talk about these pathways more openly, we widen the entry point. And when we widen the entry point, we build a stronger long-term pipeline.
Confidence shouldn’t be a barrier
One of the most common patterns in recruitment is that women are less likely to apply for roles unless they feel they meet nearly every requirement.
That’s not a capability issue. It’s a confidence one.
Mentorship, interview coaching, early engagement with school leavers, and apprenticeship pathways all play a role in building that confidence. Sometimes what makes the difference isn’t more qualifications. It’s someone saying, “Yes, you can do this.”
If we want more women to progress into senior technical roles, we have to support them early and consistently.
Looking beyond one day
International Women’s Day is important. But sustainable change doesn’t happen in a single campaign.
It happens when we:
- Build flexibility into how we work
- Broaden how we define technical talent
- Create accessible entry routes
- Support people to grow in confidence as well as capability
Attracting more women into tech matters. Keeping them, developing them, and helping them build long-term careers matters even more.
At Resillion, that’s the focus – every day.
If you’re considering a career in cyber security or software testing, we’d love to hear from you.
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