Is IT Too Geeky for Women?
If businesses want to attract more women IT pros, they must show the career isn't just for "geeky, unsociable" people. says the European Union's top technology official.
EU Commissioner Viviane Reding says stereotypes that IT careers are "boring and too technical" for women need to be overcome because few young women are taking engineering and technology degrees despite huge demand, according to the Associated Press.
The EU estimates Europe will need 300,000 qualified workers by 2010. Similar predictions have been made about American IT worker needs. "We need to bring in more women who are currently underrepresented in this dynamic sector," Reding says. "We need to convince young women ... to prepare for a job in the IT sector, and not to leave this entirely to their male colleagues."
True, geekiness can contribute to fewer women within the IT ranks. "The image of the 'computer guy' is very unappealing to young women," writes Lynne Ellyn. But, there are other, more important factors, such as a work environment that can prove unfriendly to some women, Ellyn and Christine Davis suggested in a report they authored last year for IT advisors Cutter Consortium.
That unfriendly environment not only keeps women from becoming IT pros but could be driving them from the profession. Indeed, in the U.S., the number of employed women IT pros has declined throughout this decade, according a 2007 CIO Insight analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
In our story, Women in IT: Where the Girl's Aren't, the Cutter authors muse: "Is it because they have become intolerant of working in an environment where they are not respected, or because they find it to be a field that does not support a balanced lifestyle? Perhaps it's due to the diminishing opportunities in IT? Or, could it be that IT suffers from a social stigma or perception that is repelling young women away?"
Another study we conducted last year showed that CIOs and other IT executives feel women left the field because they sought more flexible work schedules and wanted to spend more time with their children.
What do you think? Let us know below.
