IT 'must recruit more women'
Tue 29 Apr 2008
29/04/2008
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The information technology (IT) industry needs to recruit more women in order to address the gender imbalance, a leading industry figure has claimed.
Maggie Berry, the director of womenintechnolgy.co.uk, says that the IT sector is not tapping up the potential from the wealth of female talent available.
Urging employers to tackle the issue early on and "encourage more young women to take an interest in IT", she said the problems were as much to do with perception and culture as they were discrimination.
The assumption that "IT is a man’s world and that the jobs are geeky" should be tackled, she said, adding that firms could also use "strong training and development programmes" to help.
In addition, more flexible working practices could help "attract, develop and retain female talent at all levels – from graduates entering IT to women returning after a career break whose skills are invaluable to the industry".
Flexible working is seen as an important tool in retaining and attracting working mothers and fathers, with the potential to fit family life around work an attractive option.
According to the British Computer Society, women made up 14 per cent of the society's membership in 2004.
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