As a parent or teacher, have you ever wondered how you can help young women become “IT (Information Technology)-savvy?” And, as a result, have you considered how to assist them in pursuing some of the most lucrative, and worthwhile, careers of the new millennium?

Whether girls want to pursue formal careers in IT, or merely get over a fear of high-tech gadgets, there are tangible things adults can do to support technical literacy in young women. Some of these include:

• Change the perception of women in technology from solitary nerds to dynamic, successful valued community members by inviting women speakers to class, or introducing girls to older female role models;
  
• Encourage girls to go out and play, “get dirty”, solve their own problems, go to computer camp, trust their own judgments, face fears, embrace curiosity, and take risks;
  
• Give girls information on IT career benefits (salary, promotion, etc.) accompanied by observations in the real world or conversations with people in these careers.

Why take actions geared specifically to young women? Simply put — because they need it more.

In general, women use computers less than men, work in the IT Industry in much smaller numbers, are far less educated technically and are less visible online.The statistics representing women’s presence in IT indicate an alarming trend:

• According to the National Council for Research on Women, the percentage of women enrolled in undergraduate computer science programs has drastically declined over a 15-year period. In 1984, the percentage of science degrees earned by women was 37 percent. The percentage dropped to less than 20 percent in 1999.
  
• According to the US Department of Labor, in 2004 although women comprised 47 percent of the total workforce, they only represented 29 percent of the technology sector.

As a result, our daughters and some of our best students are shut out of high paying jobs in an industry the U.S. Department of Labor predicts will grow 40 percent by the year 2014, compared with only 14 percent growth projected for the entire economy.

There is a broader value in giving girls — whether they are our students, daughters, grand-daughters, nieces, friends or neighbors — a head start in IT.

It isn’t just about sexism or job discrimination. It’s about all of us who talk to young women about their hopes, dreams and aspirations. It’s about how everyday life depends on technology and how technology will increasingly shape the global community. And, it’s about preventing the loss we will suffer if half the U.S. population can’t effectively compete into the 21^st century.

To view a presentation given by Rosemary Bayer, President of the Michigan Council of Women In Technology Foundation, exploring why girls and young women don’t take advantage of technology and/or lose interest in pursuing goals or careers that involve technology, please download these PowerPoint slides.