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Is there a place for women in IT?

The IT industry is undoubtedly male-dominated, with men seemingly taking up the majority of the top positions in large corporations. However, in such a male-centric sector, is there any role for women? It appears that the perceptions of the industry are putting many females off, but there are some who are taking the reins and hoping to make a difference.

One suggestion as to why women do not take up as many IT jobs as their male counterparts is the environment in which they learn. A recent study from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation entitled Are Women Entrepreneurs Different From Men? threw up a number of suggestions as to what females need in order to be successful.

For example, it identified that women are more likely to engage in business enterprises if they are sought out by a co-founder. Furthermore, women said that protecting their intellectual property was of utmost importance and noted it as a key challenge when entering into IT jobs.

Whether women have the entrepreneurial spirit to the same extent as men is very much open for debate. Perhaps one of the major struggles for females is finding a company that takes them seriously in a male-dominated context and enables them to build upon their own merits.

Some firms are taking steps to ensure they come across as female-friendly, with CSC recently revealing it had been recognised as a top employer for women by Woman Engineer Magazine. The company engages with a number of different IT disciplines, including applications software development, system design and integration and web/application hosting. Women are therefore presented with a range of different IT careers to excel in and CSC has been rewarded for its efforts.

Computerworld recently undertook its annual survey of the 100 best places to work for IT professionals, taking into account the number of women employed. Norton Healthcare was identified as one of the top places to work for females, coming in at the top of the pile with 71 per cent of women managers in its organisation. Also ranking highly were well-known firms such as Grant Thornton LLP, Marriott International and the Altria Group.

It just goes to show that there are some top jobs for women in big name firms, providing people know where to look. Many large companies are keen to present themselves to the public as being acceptant of minority applications, which in the case of the IT sector, largely includes women.

The industry as a whole is also taking measures to ensure women who have made it into IT roles are recognised for their work. For example, the Women in the City Future Leaders Awards were set up to acknowledge the work of those females who work in male-dominated sectors throughout some of London's most prevalent business areas. It is ceremonies such as these that highlight the work of women in industry, possibly spurring them on to undertake training in areas such as IT to give themselves a leg up in the world of technology.

It could well be the case that the only thing standing in the way of women making their mark on the IT sector is women themselves. A recent poll undertaken by V3.co.uk found females are generally disillusioned by the industry, with nearly half of those questioned saying men far outweigh women. Furthermore, a fifth were under the misconception that women are not presented with the same opportunities and pay as their male counterparts.

Speaking to the website, Stephen Uden, Microsoft head of skills and economic affairs in the UK, emphasised that there are now more career routes in IT for women than ever before. "While the reality has moved on, the sector needs to continue to help the popular image to catch up by taking every opportunity to showcase the environment and working practices in IT. Women often bring a different skill set to the business," he commented.

In the UK, around a third of the workforce at Microsoft is comprised of women, which just goes to show that the big firms really are interested in broadening their horizons. Mr Uden suggested that girls need to be offered IT as a real career option from a young age in order to be likely to consider it later in life.

It seems that the IT industry as a whole is open to taking on female recruits, with various studies indicating that the attitudes of women themselves are the only obstacles standing in the way. With IT professionals continuing to earn considerable amounts even during the recession, now could well be the ideal time to sign up for an IT training cour