Women Are The Key To Filling Skills Gaps
Page 3 of 3
The IT industry has launched numerous high profile drives to attract more women into the profession, with little success. The problem is, according to both Slowcock and Watts, that stereotypes start young.
"Our research shows that stereotypes begin at around age 13," said Watts. E-skills UK now runs initiatives such as 'Computer Clubs for Girls', which is aimed at trying to interest 10-13 year-olds in IT before they dismiss it as a career option.
Another problem, identified by Pat McMullen, national strategy manager at British Gas, was that recruitment advertising was failing to reach a female audience. As a result, the company has started advertising in publications such as Best, Chat and the Daily Mirror, all of which have big female readerships.
British Gas also took part in a Government welfare-to-work programme, called 'Ambition: Energy', and through this and other schemes the company has been able to double its female workforce in the past three years.
"But, at just over 1 per cent, it is still a small amount," admitted McMullen.
The next phase of the EOC's investigation, due this autumn, will look in more depth at how young people make career choices and how employers could improve their recruitment practices.
