Breakdown prejudice and crack the skills crisis

One of the hardest groups to reach is women, who largely defy attempts to lure them into the IT industry at graduate age.

Speaking on silicon.com's Behind the Headlines programme, Ian Lynch, director of the Butler Group, said: "There is a problem in terms of the degrees they do at university and even the subjects they have done well in at school. The IT industry has to advertise to younger schoolkids rather than advertising when they're graduates."

Anne Cantelo, project manager at the e-skills NTO, agreed that the key was to appeal to a younger audience. "I agree that you do have to get to children very young," she said. "We're talking about 11 years old. Girls are being turned off the industry by the age of 11."

Thomas Power, chief learning officer at the Ecademy, felt that as well as targeting them young, a difference of approach was needed: "Yes, IT is like Scalectrix and train sets for men, it's lots of toys, and DSL and very fast computers. But the internet is about building communities, of customers, shareholders, suppliers, and so on. Women are much better at doing that than men, but we don't communicate that at the moment."

Attracting women to the industry is not merely inclusiveness for inclusiveness' sake, nor an easy solution for bumping up the numbers. People from different backgrounds have different skills to offer, as long industry learns how to deploy them.

"People over 35 have skills that a 23 year old may not have," said Cantelo. "Also, the industry is now creating products and services for people across the age range. I think it's very difficult for a 23 year old man to design a product that is going to suit a 50 year old woman."

To sign up to the e-skills NTO charter on IT skills, which is against discriminatory policies in the industry, visit http://www.e-skillsnto.org.uk