Commission encourages women into technology industry
The European Commission has launched a campaign to find and celebrate role models to encourage young women and girls to study and pursue careers in ICT.
Only nine in 100 European app developers are female and only 19% of ICT managers are women (45% of managers in other service sectors are women). Altogether, less than 30% of the ICT workforce is female. The number of female computing graduates is also dropping. They make up 3% of female graduates compared to 10% of male graduates.
European Commission Vice-President Neelie Kroes said: “Tech is too important to be left to men alone. Every week I meet more and more inspiring women in tech.”
She added: “We wanted to provide a platform for women to tell their stories about getting ahead in tech. And there are so many success stories out there – so please share yours and help us to inspire the next generation!”
The Commission is encouraging people to make their own videos featuring their stories about life in the digital sector. Videos can be shared on the ‘Every Girl Digital’ Facebook page.
This campaign builds on a Commission study on women in the ICT sector, which found that the best way to get more women into tech jobs is by giving visibility to inspiring tech professionals, thus turning them into role models.
If women held as many digital jobs as men, the European GDP could be boosted annually by around €9bn, according to the study. Organisations which are more inclusive of women in management achieve a 35% higher return on equity, and 34% better total return to shareholders than other comparable organisations.
