Women under-represented in IT profession

Female role-models needed in industry, groups say

Derek Sankey

Vancouver Sun – page E7 – July 26, 2008

When Nadia Harris looked around her graduating class completing their degrees in computer science at Ryerson University in Toronto, there were about 16 men for every woman.

It’s typical of the lack of women who enter the information technology field, not to mention rise through the ranks to land a spot on the executive team, so it prompted her to take action.

“Women are making that transition [to IT], but it’s not a noticeable number, which is why it’s important that a group of women get together and move to make an impact to show people there is this problem,” says Harris, who completed her degree with a minor in finance at the end of June.

She formed the campus group Women in IT with like-minded female students and found herself in the role of vice-president of external relations, inviting prominent women in IT to speak to the group, which hosts several events throughout the year.

“I felt I was making a bigger contribution … by uniting with other women and taking a form of action … rather than standing on the sidelines and telling people about it,” says Harris.

It’s a small group of about a dozen female students, given the lack of women colleagues, but they attracted women from companies such as IBM and ExxonMobil Corp. who represent scarce role models for others to look up to.

A Catalyst Canada study confirmed what many women executives in IT already know; there is some progress in increasing women’s numbers at the top, but it’s very slow and there’s a long way to go.

“We need to make sure we keep women in the pipeline so that when women are making that choice to stay home or work—all of those choices that come into play when starting to raise a family—that’s where we need to focus on providing that flexibility and support,” says Andrea Goertz, vice-president of enterprise services for Telus Corp. in Calgary.

“It’s great to have strong female role models, but I don’t think it’s the only way women can be successful.” To that end, Telus launched an internal women’s network, which has “definitely opened up the lines of communication,” she says.

Heather Ross, chief information officer for TD Bank Financial Group in Toronto, says young women heading into university often think of IT as “techies” in a basement, but it’s clear there are many myths to be shattered.

“We also need architects and business analysts and people who can translate the value of technology into various business areas, which opens the door to a broader constituency of candidates to work in a technology field,” says Ross, who is also part of the Judy Project.

The Judy Project was established by Judy Elders of IBM about six years ago and is a national network of women in senior executive IT positions who share best practices, discuss challenges unique to women in this field and also perform outreach functions to encourage other women to pursue the field.