So why then is it, in a world of equal opportunities, equality and high powered female executives (35% of new businesses in the UK are started by females) that the IT industry remains dominated by males?
The answer is a mystery…
Girls achieve higher grades than boys in all subjects at GCSE level. Females consistently achieve higher grades than their male equivalents in IT related subjects, Kate Lilley from the National IT Learning Centre said “We find although only 15% of all our students are women they have a far greater first time pass rate. You only have to look at the amount of females on social networking sites to see that us girls are more than au fait with the technologically advancing world”. The rewards are high and demand for IT professionals across all industry sectors great. Information Communication and Technology are major driving factors for the growth of productivity in the EU.
Indeed many IT job roles capitalize on women's greatest strengths - communication, collaboration and problem solving. Women also seem have a natural affinity with what industry call ‘Soft Skills’ – these are skills that make a great employee different from a good one. Soft Skills are about personal qualities enabling the employee to work more effectively;
So, how do we make IT that shiny glass slipper that no self respecting Cyberella is able to resist? A must for our technical workforce that invents new tools, games, devices, software and hardware (to be used by, among others, women). IT needs them to offer increased diversity & productivity, proved to come from a better balance of women in technical jobs.
Can we attract them, their knowledge and the qualities they bring? Maybe, if we dispel the nerdy image wrongly associated with IT roles. You know, the inarticulate bearded man in-putting data in the form of zeros and ones with the voice of Mr Bean. Drag this image out of the 70’s and into the 21st Century! - advertise the reality that jobs in IT are not all about writing operating systems, geeks in brown nylon slacks or learning endless programming languages. That it’s about helping companies change the way they work. Making changes to generate more revenue, lower cost and improve customer service, these are solutions for all types of business. IT is everywhere, and this isn’t about to change.
Let’s not forget the wonderful World Wide Web – the promised land for any Cyberella, a land of unlimited opportunities, not least being open 24/7 for the purchasing of glass slippers, ball gowns, princes and more!
“40% of all our web students are female, so it seems that women have seen the future in web design and development”
and e-commerce opportunities which all offer women the chance to use their creative, communication and problem solving skills, letting their entrepreneurial imaginations run wild”.
So come on girls, don’t be put off by the fact that males out number females 4:1 in the IT industry, this just means your skills will be far greatly appreciated and respected, there will be more scope for career advancement, promotion and financial rewards.
And Men, if you are reading this – be afraid, be very afraid because women have all the skills needed to take over the IT world and the rise of the Cyberella is imminent!
