- Most people in IT who are visible to young people and students are men. It may be important that women in the IT industry are also more visible as role models, says NTNU student and KBN employee Sigrid Ertresvåg Jakobsen.

Over time, KBN has worked actively, purposefully and systematically with gender equality in our business. The proportion of women on the board is 56 per cent, the management group consists of half women, while the proportion among the bank's employees is 46 per cent. But even though the overall gender balance in the bank is good, we are experiencing some challenges in recruiting for certain functions.

- We strive in all recruitment to identify the best qualified woman and man, but have experienced that this has been demanding for some parts of the bank's operations , says CEO Jannicke Trumpy Granquist. - One of the measures we have implemented to get more female candidates for our positions is to increase the number of student positions. Some of these will of course disappear on to other employers, but we have several examples of female students who have gotten permanent jobs with us after completing their studies. 

Ilse Bache, director of technology and operations at KBN, hopes that more women will choose tech education - whether it is developers, data analysts, IT and cyber security, infrastructure, public cloud or architecture. - Norway needs more tech people and we need to even out the gender differences in the tech professions. The proportion of women in the industry and in various fields of study has remained at 20 per cent for a long time. This percentage needs to go up! KBN therefore offers student positions in the field where you can work with highly qualified tech people of all kinds from KBN and from various consulting companies and where students can experience that skilled tech people have two things in common: They are passionate about their subject and they think the job is fun.

Last autumn, Sigrid Ertresvåg Jakobsen became KBN's first "remote worker". She is taking a bachelor's degree in Digital Infrastructure and Cyber ​​Security at NTNU in Trondheim and applied for a student position in the IT department at KBN. From her home in Trondheim, Sigrid says that she notices that it is a male-dominated profession she has set her sights on. - Exactly this is quite visible both in terms of lecturers, company presentations and in KBN. I do not think that it affects everyday life negatively, but I could of course wish that more women enter the IT industry.

What do you think is important for recruiting more women to the industry in the future?

- I think it is important that women see that they can also work with IT, and that you do not have to be a "computer nerd" in the boys' room to be able to like IT, and become good in IT. It is also important to show that IT can be so very different there as well. It is very exciting to work with. The IT industry wants to recruit more women, and this also makes women attractive in the labor market. Most people in IT who are visible to young people and students are men, it may be important that women in the IT industry are also more visible as role models.

What aroused your interests in applying for the student position in the IT department at KBN?

- I had no prior knowledge of either programming or other IT areas before I started my studies. But I think the digital development is very exciting, and this was something I wanted to be a part of in the future. In addition, IT and cyber security are something that is and will be very important in the future, there are many exciting job opportunities. I also thought that there were few women in IT, and that there is both a desire and a need for more women in the industry. In addition, I now see that women in the IT industry are at least as attractive, if not more so than men. I applied for the position at KBN because it was a good opportunity to gain relevant work experience, and not least exciting to be able to work with and learn from others. And that I could apply what I have learned in practice in a real work situation.

How do you think it has been to work as a "remote employee" at KBN?

- I have enjoyed myself and this has given me the opportunity to have a relevant part-time job that has been very educational alongside my studies. The other employees in KBN have taken good care of me, and I have had good contact with other employees even though I have not been to the office. I had the opportunity to enter the office and work with other employees in December. This was something I have appreciated, and which has made it easier to work as a remote employee in retrospect, says Sigrid, who believes the form of work opens up more opportunities for both employees and the employer in terms of flexibility, resources and recruitment . - But it is probably still important to have the opportunity to enter the office once in a while, as I had the opportunity to do in December.

What significance do you think Women's Day has today?

- I think that Women's Day is an important day also in 2022. It is very easy to take things for granted. But not all women have the same opportunities as me. I am privileged to have the opportunity to work in a male-dominated profession, and who is actually wanted and respected in my field of study and workplace. This is easy to take for granted, but there are many who have fought to give me the opportunity to do so, and it is important to appreciate and remember. At the same time, it is important to fight for other women to have the same opportunities as I have. To all of you strong women, congratulations so much on the day!