'Women should be encouraged to enter IT industry by female workers'
08/05/2008(16:03)
Female IT professionals need to act as role models to encourage more women to enter the industry, according to one expert.
Jan Peters, women's forum manager for British Computer Society (BCS), has suggested that female graduates working in the IT industry and women involved in technology apprenticeships should help promote the sector to school pupils.
"They need to show them that it's not just about being a user of Word or Excel, working in IT is much, much, more varied," she said.
Ms Peters added that women working in IT can enjoy perks such as travel, money, working with people and the opportunity to benefit society.
The expert's comments follow claims that a negative image of IT workers may be hampering the industry's recruitment efforts.
In a poll by IT recruitment specialist GCS, 40 per cent of people questioned said professionals in the sector are seen as "techie geeks" who lack social skills.
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