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Women and Technology

A while ago I was asked to answer some questions for the Women in Technology website. The questions made me think about the role that women can play within Capgemini and in the technology sector as a whole.

Why should women choose IT? Personally I did not know much about careers in IT until I was at uni. Half my degree was computer science, chosen because I thought most jobs need some form of computer skill. But actually I found that there are a number of jobs which fall under the IT umbrella: Project Management; Business Analysis; Database Administration; Software Engineering; Technical Support; Test Analysis; Web design; Systems Integration and Technical Architect just to name a few. I am not claiming to know exactly what all those people do, but there is quite a bit of variety to choose from.

Do I need to know stuff about computers? You definitely need the basics, like emails, the internet and word processing. But you don't need to have done a degree in IT as the BTC graduate scheme takes people with different degree backgrounds. You will get training and on the job experience which will help you learn skills for your particular area. What you will need is to be adaptable and willing to learn.

I found that there were far fewer women enrolled on IT programmes at university. I thought this might be because of the stereotyping of people working in IT. I'm sure you will have seen tv shows or movies which portray anyone who works in IT as a geek. I have to say, just for those of you who do not know, this is not true. This stereotype of people with limited social interactions, who live in front of their computers programming all day is discouraging people from looking at jobs in IT.

Why should women choose Capgemini? I chose Capgemini because of the atmosphere, from walking through the door I knew it was somewhere where I could work. People are always helpful and I knew I would get variety in roles, some of which I never would have imagined myself doing. And of course Capgemini were voted in the Top Fifty places where women want to work (according to the Times).

IT is a well established community, I think that there will always be jobs for people skilled in this area. What do you think? Should we be encouraging more women into IT?