Tech trades are crying out for more women

May 8 2008 by Chris Knox, The Journal

FEMALE tech experts have called on more women to consider jobs in IT after a survey showed twice as many boys as girls would consider a job in the sector.

Only a quarter of girls aged 11-16 would consider a career in IT, compared with more than half of boys the same age, according to a survey commissioned by Blackberry maker Research in Motion.

The figures give little comfort to those wishing to make the industry less male-dominated – yet the survey found that 90% of the girls were heavily involved with technology and community sites such as Facebook.

Norma Foster, chief executive of e-business champion The North East Regional Portal – n-e-life – said: “This report does highlight an issue that is very important to us.

“However, we also need to consider the bigger picture, which is demonstrated by a number of recent reports and studies that have shown the number of women using IT is on the increase.

“And we believe this trend is set to continue through to 2012, when females will account for 51.3% of UK internet users.

“We are continuously working hard to demystify e-business and technology to all people – regardless of gender, age or previous knowledge – and are seeing that a combination of softer skills such as creativity and communications, which are often female strengths, with technology is essential.”

The figures also show that 43% of young people do not consider a career in IT because they belive it is boring, while 30% are put off by its perception as a ‘geeky’ profession.

Janis Green is director of SF Software in Newcastle, which supplies schools and colleges with accountancy software and three of its eight employees are women.

She said: “I think much of the problem is that people think IT is a bit of a dead-end, boring career and can’t see where they can take it – but there is a need for IT skills in a wide range of industries, including film making and fashion.”