Published on the 26/08/2015 | Written by Newsdesk
One only need attend an IT conference to know that technology is a man’s world…
For every woman in the IT industry, there are currently three men. To help balance the future of IT, 42 girls will experience a day in the life of an IT professional as part of Shadow IT, an initiative organised by the Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) on 3 September 2015.
In the wake of decreases in the percentage of females in the IT industry, Shadow IT is an initiative promoting the opportunity for Year 10 and 11 girls to be introduced to the field and gain hands-on IT experience.
Matched with female IT mentors, the girls will see life in high profile companies – including Xero, Air New Zealand, Microsoft, HP, Sovereign, Wynyard Group, Orion Health, Dimension Data and Propellerhead.
Figures drawn from the NZ Census show that since 2006, the percentage of females in the New Zealand IT industry has dropped from 28 percent to 25 percent by 2013. Likewise, women receiving degrees in computer science are down from 16 percent to 14 percent over the same period, with information systems falling from 28 percent to 19 percent.
Edwina Mistry, organiser of Shadow IT and industry and community engagement manager at MIT Faculty of Business and IT, said the only way to fix the gender balance is to give girls exposure to the IT industry. “A day shadowing professional IT women will make the difference. The girls can actually see life in the IT industry for themselves, rather than just hearing about how great it is.”
Mistry said there is a myth that IT is just for geeks sitting behind computers. “We want to show [the girls] there are so many career options within the industry – for example, as business analysts or software architects.”
Rebecca Hill, a graduate developer at Xero, began her career in development after working in project management for years. She said she hadn’t considered it as an option while at school. “[I] fell into the industry by chance. If I’d had the opportunity to learn it while I was young, I could’ve been doing something I’m really passionate about much earlier.”
Hill is a volunteer mentor for Shadow IT. “The industry is always changing, and there’s always something new to learn. As a career, it’s rewarding and exciting, and there are amazing job opportunities.”
