About us
Diversity and inclusion
We are committed to working towards fairer representation of minoritised groups in the tech sector. Improving equality and inclusion is at the core of our ethos and strategy.
The challenge
Why inclusivity matters
It is well documented that there is a lack of diversity and unequal opportunity in the UK tech scene. Fewer than 10% of tech company CEOs are women, and fewer than 9% of senior tech leaders are people of the global majority.
McKinsey's Diversity Matters research shows that more diverse companies are more likely to financially outperform their less diverse counterparts. Despite this, research from the British Business Bank found that startups founded by women or people of the global majority received less than 3% of all equity investment into tech in 2020. That needs to change.
Our response
What we're doing about it
To understand the barriers women and people of the global majority face, we worked with partners to commission research on how to champion diversity in tech leadership.
What we do now
- Regular EDI training for staff
- The Breakthrough Bursary, providing heavily subsidised membership for tech founders of the global majority, funded by our alumni companies
- Enterprising Women, a fully funded programme helping women take their business or idea to the next stage
What we've done before
- Marketing and programme audits with community partner Arima & Co, helping us add representative diversity to our content, training and events
- Regular Women Founders' Forums for entrepreneurs to connect, share skills, solve problems and network
- Career talks to school children and young women about careers in STEM, with our companies' women tech leaders
Looking ahead
What's next
We recognise there is more to do. Our long-term aims are to keep improving gender and ethnic diversity, including better investment experiences for under-represented founders, and to extend our inclusion work to founders with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ founders and founders from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
Together with Bristol Innovations, we aim to enable a pioneering approach to responsible innovation and enterprise, putting the University of Bristol at the forefront of best practice in the innovation sector.
Our inclusion programmes
Find out how we support under-represented founders to start and grow their tech businesses.
Read more on why diversity makes good business sense.