August 2007 — News/In Brief
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Technology + Online + Industry + Partnerships
New Alliance Launches Drive for More Women in IT
Girls are scarce in computer science classes, but a new coalition hopes to reverse that trend.
MORE THAN 1 MILLION computer-related
jobs are going to be created by the year 2014,
according to the US Department of Labor. But data from the National
Center for Women & Information Technology shows an 80 percent decline
in the number of female first-year college students
who chose to major in computer science
between 1996 and 2004.
Members of the newly forged K-12 Alliance are concerned about that sharp slide. Having debuted at the National Educational Computing Conference in June, the coalition of 19 organizations is committed to advancing the quality of computer training in K-12 classrooms, and raising awareness of the correlation between computer literacy and career success. To reach girls in particular, the group will share the stories of women in the IT field with students. Also, the alliance will strive to identify and remove the obstacles that have led to the discouraging labor statistics, which show that women make up only 26 percent of IT workers in the country today.
"In the next seven years, women will account for more than half of the nation's workforce," says NCWIT co-founder Lucy Sanders. "Women can, and must, play a more significant role in building an innovative and technically trained workforce. If US companies wish to maintain their competitive advantage in IT-related fields, they cannot afford to miss out on the input of half the population."
The K-12 Alliance's first project is the release of "Gotta Have IT," a resource kit for teachers that includes computing and career information, as well as promotional print and digital media. Part of the resource's appeal is its visual illustrations of careers that are open to those who study IT-related subjects.
"We want girls to be more confident, aware, and interested in computing, but even more so, we want girls to understand that a background in computer science is critical for 21st-century careers and for life in general," says K-12 Alliance Co- Chair Chris Stephenson, who is also executive director of the Computer Science Teachers Association. To get the message out, the alliance is creating a networking system among the member organizations, educators, and parents.
"It is everyone's role to reach out to young women to build awareness and inspire an interest in computing," says Ruthe Farmer, alliance co-chair, and technology and engineering education program manager for the Girl Scouts of the USA. "It is imperative that we begin to speak to girls at a young age about the potential they hold to become future innovators and leaders. Women bring different life experiences and perspectives to the innovation process, and this diversity is what leads to the design of products and services that can benefit a broader range of people."
