RY Next Gen: Thinking about a career in creative or tech?

Wednesday (March 8^th) is International Women’s Day, a global day for spotlighting and celebrating the contributions of women past and present, and for committing to attaining gender equity for future generations of women and girls.

This year’s theme is #EmbraceEquity. The theme got us thinking about the importance of equity in two of the worlds we know best – the creative and digital spaces. Both spaces which, while they’re generally getting better, are still seen as male-dominated ­– particularly at the top.

If today’s girls and young women don’t see creative and tech careers as equally open to all genders, they’ll be less motivated to pursue them. And that just perpetuates the problem – it’s hard enough to confidently stride out into the working world, but if you think a career path is inhospitable to your gender, you’re less likely to set foot on it. And for male students, subconsciously absorbing signals that some industries are easier for men to thrive in than women, they may end up inadvertently creating barriers, instead of helping remove them.

So this year, instead of making a film about how vital women are to these industries, we’re speaking directly to that crucial next generation from a place of positivity and motivation. Partnering with The Aldridge Foundation, we’ve made a film for secondary school pupils of all genders, about the cool stuff you get to do if you work in those fields. It just so happens that everyone we hear from in this film is a woman – regular, brilliant women, doing fun jobs, that today’s students can (and should) aspire to themselves.

We gathered a cast of exceptional women from across RY’s creative and digital teams and asked them questions about their careers across advertising, design, UX, coding, film, TV…and more.

Watch the films below:

We'd be delighted for any schools to share the films with their students. For further queries, get in touch with us via [email protected]. We also have an internship programme helping to bring more young talent into the creative world - find out more, here.