If we want to see more women in tech, then we must start with attracting more girls to tech! Sounds like a no-brainer right? With all of the conversation related to equality, pay equity and diversity & inclusion, you would think that we would bring those conversations to bear with our younger women at an earlier age. Unless we begin to saturate the tech talent pipeline with girls, we will continue to have a shortage of women in the field.
In a very real way, we must address the lack of exposure and information when it comes to technology career paths for our young people. We continue to promote the use of technology – creating more consumers – while neglecting to encourage the development of technology which would create more producers of technology. In addition, continuing to perpetuate the stereotype that girls are not good in math, or boys are more “logical” than girls, only serves as a deterrent for girls who might otherwise consider careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).
The National Center for Women in Technology recently published a report which showed that, as of 2017, only 26% of the computing workforce is comprised of women. With an expected 3.5 million computing-related job openings expected by 2026, we must begin to saturate the education and talent pipeline with women and girls to balance out the current 76% male statistic that represent the dominance of men in the field (source: www.ncwit.org).
By the numbers:
- Only 19% of all Computer Science (CS) AP classes include girls
- Only 18% of all undergraduate computer and information sciences degrees are attained by women/girls
- The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that by 2020 there will be more than 1.4 million computing-related job openings. At current rates, however, we can only fill about 30% of those jobs with U.S. computing bachelor’s grads. Girls represent a valuable, mostly untapped talent pool.
Source
Tips for Girls who are curious about technology:
Tech Corps
CoolTechGirls
iD Tech:
- Follow tech companies and organizations on social media
- Join the tech club at your school or afterschool programs
- Attend Techie Camps in the summer
- Experiment using Google, YouTube and other online resources
