The Black Talent and Leadership Programme launched its ‘Be the Change Initiative’ at Homerton College, University of Cambridge, on 17 th October 2023. The initiative has been created to address the underrepresentation of Black talent in STEM and will work with businesses to create effective strategies to attract, retain and develop Black talent in the UK.

Olu Orugboh, CEO and Founder, Synergy Solutions and Cambridge Wireless (CW) Vice Chair and Board member asks: is it time for the tech sector to do more to increase the level of black talent representation in STEM? In this article, she discusses the growing crisis in recruiting and retaining Black tech talent.

Technology continues to drive economic development, globally, but yet the level of black representation within the sector continues to trail behind. Black people make up only 3% of employees in the top 75 Silicon Valley tech companies, compared to 24% of the total workforce. A study by the Chartered Institute of IT found, that just 2% of IT specialists are from a black, African, Caribbean or black British background.