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Story URL: http://management.silicon.com/itpro/0,39024675,39158965,00.htm

Leader: Why do girls hate IT?
Perhaps they have a point...

By silicon.com

Published: Thursday 18 May 2006

There is much hand-wringing about why there are fewer women than men working in the IT industry.

Initiatives such as Computer Clubs for Girls (CC4G) aim to introduce girls to technology by stealth, using teen-friendly topics such as fashion and celebrity as a cover for teaching them about IT.

It's a good way of showing them that technology doesn't have to be nerdy or obscure but rather a useful tool for the things they're already interested in. The aim is to give girls more confidence in their technology skills so they are more willing to consider a career in IT later on.

But should we simply be persuading girls to take up jobs in this male-oriented industry?

Or should we perhaps be looking at the reasons why girls don't want to go into the industry in the first place?

According to some recent research, girls are more likely to use mobile and internet services than boys. The only digital media more likely to be used by boys than girls is games consoles.

So they don't seem to be scared of technology - as the success of CC4G in recruiting members also suggests. They just don't find IT jobs appealing.

The image of IT is undoubtedly part of the problem - the socks and sandals brigade don't help with this (and we all know that image isn't just a cliché).

Thus the scheme isn't the best introduction to a job in IT - many of the girls in CC4G might use IT as part of a pop music project but most - if not all - of the real jobs in IT don't have that exciting upside.

In fact, that's something employers often complain about - that the IT people are too divorced from the business they work for.

Management gurus are always telling us that IT needs to align better with the business, and they are right - perhaps even down to the level of individual jobs.

Maybe girls are spotting this disconnect and that's what they don't find IT attractive. Perhaps the industry's energies would be better spent making IT jobs more compelling than simply attempting to attract women into jobs they - and their male colleagues - may not like.