Girls Gone Wired: Experts for decades have bemoaned the fact that women are
underrepresented in the field of information technology. A 2007 study conducted
jointly by Women in Technology International, a California-based trade
association, and Compel Ltd., a management consulting firm, pointed up a
“simultaneously fascinating and disturbing paradox” regarding women’s view of IT
careers. According to the research, which was based on responses of nearly 2,000
professional women, three-quarters would recommend that young girls enter
technology-related fields, but only 52 percent believe their organizations offer
“favorable climates” for women’s professional growth.
Now, one of the largest technology companies on the planet hopes to make a
dent. Microsoft Corp. recently conducted its second DigiGirlz Day, an event in
Long Island, New York, that reportedly was attended by about 150 female high
school students. Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft plans this year to have
similar DigiGirlz gatherings, which are free to female students on a first-come,
first-served basis, at nearly 20 other locations in the U.S., as well as
Hyderabad, India, and the United Kingdom. Microsoft says the one-day events are
designed to help girls in grades 9 through 12 understand what is entailed in
technology careers.
It is an issue Microsoft reportedly knows about firsthand. According to the
Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper, the proportion of female employees at
Microsoft has fallen from 27 percent of its workforce in 1998 to 25 percent at
present.
= Member Only
