IN4 Group to train and place 1,000 career break mums and carers in high skilled data roles

The free to access Power of MIND (Mums in Data) Programme from IN4 Group plans to train and place 1,000 career break mums and female carers into highly skilled data roles by the end of 2025.

Led by Blackburn entrepreneur Mo Isap, leading professional technology skills provider IN4 Group has created The Power of Mind (Mums in Data) Programme. By the end of 2025, Mums in Data plans to train and place 1,000 career break mums and female carers in high-skilled data roles within local organisations such as Housing Associations, NHS and Local Authorities. IN4 Group will work across 25 UK Local Authorities, with plans to upskill 40 women in each local community. The programme will be co-invested from public and private sector partners and free to access. 

Mums in Data aims to unlock the talent and potential of mothers and female carers who want to return to the workforce and help them into much in demand data roles across the UK.  

The programme addresses the current challenge that many women face in choosing between childcare and their careers, resulting in a high percentage of women becoming economically inactive, impacting their personal health and well-being. Data roles offer high flexibility, with many being fully remote, enabling mums and carers to pursue a career without compromising family or caregiving responsibilities. Additionally, mums and carers bring essential soft skills — like problem-solving, communication, and critical thinking — that are highly valued in data analyst roles.

The most recent UK labour market statistics show that 9.26 million people aged 16-64 were economically inactive, setting the inactivity rate at 21.8%. Of this, 1.75 million (18.9%) are caring for family or home, of which a substantial portion are likely stay-at-home mums.

Mums in Data will address a critical need for the UK economy. Demand for skilled data workers is growing, and the UK has a shortage, which is exacerbated by the failure to train and recruit women. Women are under-represented across all STEM fields, and in the data industry in 2023, men outnumbered their female colleagues in data by more than 4 to 1, at a time when businesses are struggling to recruit people with data skills. A recent government report found that nearly 48% of businesses in UK were recruiting for data roles, with over 234,000 data roles to be filled. Almost half of businesses (46%) struggled to recruit for roles that require data skills. 

The programme attendees will achieve a professional data qualification in data governance and compliance, culminating in a one-month data project placement with a local employer. The programme will be delivered in a flexible and hybrid form to ensure the participants can access it without having to compromise on childcare or caring responsibilities. Recruitment of the first cohort will start in December 2024 for an initial group of 20 mums and carers in Blackburn, Lancashire. Lancashire has one of the highest economically inactive populations in the UK. 

The Programme builds on IN4 Group’s track record since 2020 in delivering its award-winning programmes, designed to achieve optimal economic and social impact and drive fair access to technology futures for young people, career changers, early-stage entrepreneurs and industry small and large. IN4 Group operates across all UK regions and internationally across the Middle East. It has supported over 2,500 people into tech careers, of whom 41% women, 53% ethnic minorities, 51% career changers, and 49% unemployed. The Group achieved an incredible £14.3m of social impact in 2023, delivering a social return on investment of £6.28 for every £1 invested.

Mo Isap, CEO of IN4 Group, said: “As the Government has acknowledged to get Britain growing again, we’ve got to get Britain working again. What is needed is a targeted, hyper local approach which helps specific groups, such as mums and carers, get back into the workforce, and not just rely on job centres.  The inspiration for The Power of Mind (Mums in Data) has come from the success we’ve had with career break mums from some of our other Skills City programmes with life transforming impact; this has led me to create a more deliberate programme for stay-at-home mums and female carers, ensuring they can have great careers without compromising their children or caring responsibilities. The mission of the Programme is to meet the needs of the economy without compromising the responsibilities of society.”

Xanthe Sharp, Apprentice Business Analyst (and Mother of Two) who completed a Cloud Analytics Bootcamp with IN4, commented: “Embarking on a new career has been transformative for my life. I’ve got confidence and it’s made a big difference to my family. My current role is 100% working from home; it fits in really well with the school runs and allows me to be there when the children are at home. The advice I’d give other mums thinking about whether to take this step is just go for it. You’ll have something amazing on your CV and will learn new skills.”