'Several changes needed to bring more women into IT careers'

16:19 24th March 2009

A number of issues need to be addressed in a bid to increase the number of women seeking to succeed in IT careers, according to womenintechnology.co.uk.

Maggie Berry, director of the networking and career development website for women involved with technology, said that companies need to implement a greater flexibility in relation to working hours, while more women should be encouraged to seek IT training.

She added that the technology sector is currently dominated by men, while the fast pace of change does little to accommodate women seeking to build an IT career after maternity leave.

Ms Berry said: "The industry moves really quickly and quite a few women take a career break, have children and then [find that] getting back into the industry when you've had some time out is really hard."

The website director went on to say more girls need to be encouraged to study technology-based subjects at college and university in order to create a more gender-balanced workforce.

A recent report commissioned by Intuitive Media Research Services and named Learning in the Family, found that more than twice as many children ask their mother for help with computers rather than their father.