Where Did All the Girl Geeks Go?
eWeek (04/10/08) Perelman, Deb
ACM TECHNEWS
The proportion of computer science bachelor's degrees awarded to women has fallen from 36 percent to 21 percent between 1983 and 2006, and fewer women are working in IT this year than in 2000, says the National Center for Women and Information Technology. Many experts say computer science suffers from a bad public image. For example, many students, and many parents, feel that technology-related jobs are uninteresting and require employees to sit in front of computers all day. Although the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that computer and mathematical science jobs will grow at a faster pace than any other occupation through 2016, many people still believe that technology is not a secure field. "In 2001, the dot-com bubble burst and everyone decided there were no jobs in this field," says Adelphi University professor Stephen Bloch. "Maybe the female students have been more sensitive to this." Webgrrls International CTO Nelly Yusupova says even if pure programming jobs are outsourced, there will still be opportunities within companies for people to bridge the relationship between the outsourced IT vendors and the business. "These roles would probably be ideal for women who prefer to be in communication-focused roles, if they know computer science and can communicate to all parties involved," Yusupova says. NCWIT CEO Lucy Sanders says the best way to get more girls interested in IT may be to show them that they can make a difference. "If we don't have women at the design table, then the technology is not all that it could be," she says. "Are we inventing all that we could be inventing? I don't think so."
Where Are the Women?
Gazette (Montreal) (04/19/08) Whittaker, Stephanie
ACM TECHNEWS
Information technology educators are concerned that not enough women are enrolling in programs that lead to high-tech jobs. Although the number of women entering computer-related programs rose in the late 1990s, "in the past five years, there's been a diminishment in their numbers," says Bill Lynch, associate dean of undergraduate programs and student academic services at Concordia University in Montreal. Lynch says women accounted for about 20 percent of students studying information technology programs at Concordia in 2001, but currently represent only about 10 percent. "I really don't know why this is happening," says Cathy Dutton, co-chair of the computer science technology department at Montreal's John Abbot College. "It may be that there's a perception that it's not a people-person job. Or, it may be the legacy of the dot-com bust." The dot-com bubble burst turned many potential technology students, both male and female, away from careers in the technology sector. Educators say that despite the demand for high-tech graduates, there is still a perception that jobs in the IT sector are scarce and insecure. In fact, there is a shortage of IT graduates overall, both male and female. Dutton says high-tech companies are working to reverse the perception that there are no jobs in the field, with companies such as Microsoft making trips to universities to push the profession. CSC's Josee Riopelle says she is worried about the industry's ability to fill vacant positions, and as older employees leave the workforce over the next few years there could be a severe lack of qualified people.