UK Parliamentary Digital Service and Code First Girls launch women in tech internship program

UK Parliament, in conjunction with the social company Code First Girls, is looking for interns for the Parliamentary Digital Service (PDS) to increase the number of women working in technology. On 6 June, the project was officially launched during an event in Speaker’s House.

Sir Lindsay, the Speaker of the House of Commons, stated at the beginning of the project’s operation that this is an excellent opportunity for women’s advancement in the digital world and that education and recruitment of women will be of great importance to the Parliament’s digital team, accelerating it to be stronger and more capable of responding to the needs of modern times.

This semester’s initial duration is one year, but PDS expects to continue accepting participants in the long run. They will also give out Code First Girls degrees, and participants will be able to specialise in software, data, and other sectors of the digital world after completing the theoretical and practical sections.

Anna Brailsford, CEO of Code First Girls, stated her excitement about collaborating with the UK Parliament to empower more women in the computer profession and assist the digital team in hiring more female developers. She stressed that there is a significant gender imbalance in the industry, with women experiencing multiple hurdles to entrance into STEM fields, beginning with school and extending through later phases of their careers.