Women Do Digital: Silverbean's Charlotte McMurray & Lauren Archer discuss the future of the sector

We asked Lauren Archer, marketing and PR manager and Charlotte McMurray digital performance director, from the digital agency Silverbean what they thought of women working in digital sectors, and how they think women can shape the future of the digital industry.

As a woman in the world of tech and digital, how do you feel you are represented within the digital landscape?

Charlotte McMurray

Within tech and digital as a whole there’s a definite gender imbalance, and the majority of major industry figures in digital are male. However, I do think that female representation has improved noticeably in the years since I first joined the industry – there are a lot more women starting careers in digital now, and the speaker lists at conferences are a lot more balanced than they used to be. As a result we are starting to see better representation which is really positive, but there’s a long way to go.

Within Silverbean the gender balance is much more equal than you’d expect from industry statistics; we’re about 50/50 when overall the industry is only about 25 per cent female. We’re lucky to have a lot of very knowledgeable and experienced senior women on the team, as well as a lot of talented younger ones building their careers. The fantastic office culture and great performance we get from having a good balance of people and viewpoints benefits everybody in the office, male and female.

Lauren Archer

I don’t feel I’m represented any differently to my male colleagues, despite the digital industry being perceived as a ‘male dominated’ industry. When there are so many successful and influential women in digital on a national scale, not to mention the women who are making an impact on an international scale in powerful positions for companies like Facebook, Huffington Post and Yahoo, I don’t think a gender divide is very visible in our sector. Digital is more about what you know and how you execute it, as opposed to ‘jobs for the boys’, like some industries.

How do you feel the digital profession fares on a scale of 1-10 regarding the infamous ‘glass ceiling’?

C: 7. I do feel that digital is more balanced than some other professions, in part because it’s a younger industry so some old-fashioned views are less entrenched. I also think that as a newer industry, digital is open to a wider range of academic backgrounds than industries like engineering might be. This means that women who might not have been attracted to STEM subjects in school (for whatever reason) aren’t prevented from pursuing a career in digital in the same way as they might be if they wanted to get into engineering.

L: 8.5 - It’s not perfect just yet, but I think the narrowing divide is encouraging and an indication of the changes we can expect to see as more women move into the industry. While it’s a profession that requires skill and knowledge, it’s not in a “traditional” sense, like engineering, where women were historically excluded from as it wasn’t a “women’s job”. The fact that it’s a relatively new career path will also have its benefits, so the age-old gender roles aren’t common and it’s all about equal opportunities.

Do you think the digital industry needs to be shaken up by more female representation- how do you propose this will happen?

C: There’s definitely room for more prominent women in digital – most of the major bloggers and thought leaders are men and it’d be great to see a wider range of perspectives. That being said, there’s been a noticeable change in the time since I joined the industry, so I’m confident that over time the balance will improve. It’s also really encouraging to see how keen the industry as a whole is to address gender imbalances and how much discussion there is around the topic.

In terms of practical action, I think there are plenty of senior women in digital who need to shout up more – I know from personal experience that it’s far too easy to end up chained to your desk! I do think that to an extent women who are already doing well in the industry have a responsibility to speak up and increase their visibility and that would go a long way towards addressing the imbalance in representation.

L: The beauty of this sector is that it’s constantly growing and welcoming both women and men. I don’t think that initiatives to get more women into the profession will do harm nor good, but the growth of the industry thus far has been natural and unforced, so I’d rather that were to continue.

Overall, it seems that women in digital do fare better than other traditionally male dominated professions and as a new and constantly forward thinking industry, women are moving their way towards the forefront. However, as always, an imbalance does exist. Google’s Women in Search Award initiative aims to address the gender gap in the Search industry. The announcement of the most innovative and prominent Woman in Search will be at The Drum Search Awards on 9 June.