IWD: Celebrating Women Powering STEM

Sunday, March 8, 2026, is International Women’s Day – a chance to celebrate women’s role in society, and the immense workplace contribution made by female employees everywhere.

Women are making a tangible difference at all stages of their careers, and increasingly in those sectors not conventionally associated with employing a female workforce. In fact, Onefile’s own Executive Vice President, Davinder Aujla, is one such influential business leader working in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) industry. Davinder has more than 20 years’ experience in technology and is committed to driving growth and best practice in IT, B2B and Edtech.

Onefile has always promoted diversity, with several women employed at senior level as well as throughout the organisation. To achieve career success like Dav’s though, young women and girls first need to be able to access great training opportunities when they first leave school or college – which is another reason for championing the apprentice route.

Apprenticeships, as we know, continue to be extremely popular with women and girls – in 2024/2025, slightly more females (52.5%) than males joined apprentice programmes. Retail, healthcare, business admin, legal services and early years education remain sought-after sectors among women, although less traditionally female areas such as construction, engineering and technology are becoming more attractive. In the first quarter of the 2025/2026 academic year, the percentage of STEM starts by female apprentices rose slightly to 16.4% (8,620) against 14.9% (7,220) in the same three months of 2024/2025.

T level learners

Although latest figures show that some progress is being made at apprenticeship level, the take up of STEM subjects at T level remains slow among girls. Statistics for 2024/2025 reveal that female students made up only 9% of leaners taking engineering and technology T level subjects, pointing to an ongoing gender skills gap in these areas.

Industry bodies and educators are keen to encourage more female candidates into STEM roles, and, as a progressive IT business, we applaud their efforts to promote the benefits of these careers to young women.

Give To Gain

This year’s IWD theme is Give to Gain, designed to aid women’s advancement in a variety of ways such as by providing advocacy, resources and visibility, and most relevant to Onefile, mentoring and training. Knowledge is power,and supporters of gender equality agree that giving women more opportunities for personal growth helps foster a better-connected world.

As a leading player in the Edtech sector, we want everyone to benefit from our learner management platform – and we’re committed to supporting employers tackle gender skills gaps through the best use of our software.

To learn more about how Onefile can support you, your training providers and learners book a discovery call today.