Career Options
Female students shunning IT careersThey may use computers on a daily basis, but few female students are turning that know-how into a career because information technology (IT) is perceived as boring, a survey by Microsoft Canada reveals. LINDA WHITE |
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 [ 2006-07-19 ] |
According to the survey, 75% of female students in Canada claim to be proficient in using a computer and have a strong interest in using a wide range of technologies, yet only 28% are considering careers in IT.
In contrast, almost 50% of males are interested in a technology-focused career.
Of those uninterested in an IT career, 35% of both male and female students ranked "it's boring" as the No. 1 reason. Not knowing anything about technology was listed as the second most important reason by female and male students at 35% and 16% respectively.
But IT is anything but boring, believes Zubine Khambatta, a senior consultant with Infusion Development of Toronto. "I enjoy the dynamics. It's a fast-paced environment," she says. "You're always learning new technologies and get to interact -- especially with a consulting firm -- with a lot of people."
Khambatta has worked in IT for the better part of a decade. After graduating from the University of Toronto with a degree in computer science, she worked as a developer for wireless solutions.
"The industry is very vast, with so many career options, such as design, architecture, development and networking," she says.
Nearly 80% of students surveyed believe women can easily enter and succeed in IT, but the reasons for choosing IT vary. Of the 36.3% of students who expressed interest in pursuing technology-focused careers, more than 40% of males said it was because they love technology. Just 28% of females responded the same.
Females looking to enter the IT field cited job availability (20%) and more interesting work opportunities (40%) as their primary reasons.
"It's clear from the survey that students are very interested in using technology in their day-to-day lives, yet they're not interested in taking those skills to the next level by turning them into a career," says Daniel Shapiro, academic program manager with Microsoft Canada.
He believes more work is needed to help students not only understand technology, but to understand the career opportunities technology can provide.
Microsoft hosted an industry round table in Toronto in June to share its survey results.
The demand for skilled IT workers across the country is growing, but enrolment in post-secondary computer science and software engineering programs in Canada has dropped by 11% over the past three years, Microsoft reports.
A number of factors may be contributing to that drop, believes Mike Katchabaw, a computer science professor at the University of Western Ontario in London.
"In part, stories of the dot-com bubble burst and outsourcing have spooked students and parents," he says.
Image is also a factor. "A lot of people in technology are cast as geeky or nerds. That can have an impact on young people when their own self-image is very much a concern," Katchabaw says.
Survey respondents who felt women could not succeed in IT cited three reasons: it's a male-dominated field; males have stronger computer skills/aptitude for IT and females have less interest in the field.
"Our perceptions are so wrong but so prevalent," Katchabaw says.
"The perception that males have a stronger aptitude for computer science is absolutely wrong. A lot of our top students who graduate are women. It's sad to see gifted young women stay away from something because of these perceptions."
A growing need for skilled IT workers underscores that concern. "If we had a stronger female enrolment that would equal male enrolment, there might not be a problem," Katchabaw says.
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HIRING INDEX SURVEY
Chief information officers expect an increase in information technology (IT) hiring in the third quarter of 2006, according to the Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report. Of 270 people surveyed, 15% plan to add IT staff in the next three months and 3% anticipate cutbacks.
Business growth is the primary reason for adding IT staff and Microsoft Windows administration (Server 2000/2003) is the hottest skill set within IT departments, according to those surveyed.
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