Today I took part in a rather interesting discussion on Twitter using the hashtag #littlemissgeek – the primary focus of which was women in IT, and what could be done to encourage more young girls to pursue a career in technology.
According to cio.co.uk (following a study by Women in Technology), only 17% of IT professionals today are women of that 17%, less than 2% are in Director or Board Level positions. Why is this? I was never taught IT at school. We only just had computers in the school when I reached 16 and my career in IT has been as a result of self taught knowledge, perseverance and a bloody minded attitude to succeed. But throughout my career I have always been in the minority – leading teams of men, attending conferences or special events, and being one of the very few women there. What can we do to improve this?
The lack of women in IT is certainly not due to the lack of support of technology within the schools environment. Both in primary and secondary schools, IT is heavily promoted as a medium for undertaking research and presenting work – perhaps sometimes, dare I say, to the detriment of supporting more traditional methods of teaching. I would agree that the removal of the very dull core ICT syllabus and the introduction of Computer Science will go a long way to giving students a more interesting subject to study. However, I believe what is also needed is more promotion of IT as a career for women through schools, colleges & universities. I think it is also incredibly important to recognise that IT is not purely the realm of “geeks”. Yes, I can *do* the geeky stuff – install software, diagnose technical issues, even done a little programming in my time. However, from a personal point of view, I would rather be viewed as an IT Professional rather than a geek.
I am sure there are young girls out there who are, in the traditional sense of the word, very geeky and want to be in a very technical role. However there are a wealth of roles in IT and not all of them fall into the highly technical category. Support roles require people skills, administrative roles require a mathematical brain, IT project managers require analytical & business skills. To move to the top in IT, you will require a combination of all of those skills and so much more, including, more than likely, a dazzling personality to shine over and above everyone else!
What we need are role models. We need women who can talk, women who can show young girls that they can combine their dreams of looking gorgeous and raising a family (IF they want children!) with a career in IT. Whether those women are programmers, support desk analysts, IT Managers or CIO’s – all need to show willing to give up some time and share their success stories.
I have forged a career in IT moving from a Database Administrator in the mid 90’s through to being a Head of IT for one of the UK’s leading companies in 2011. And during that time I managed to have 4 children without any affect on my abilities or prospects for promotion. I have respect amongst my peers – many of whom who are male – and I LOVE the IT industry. Come on girls, YOU can do it too!
Link with me http://uk.linkedin.com/in/lornajones
