High-level debate: Goodbye to the IT girl: Why are young women deserting technology?
To commemorate the centenary of International Women’s Day, ITU is organizing a High-level Panel Debate around the theme of female participation in the information and communication technology industry.
What’s behind the sharp decline in young women opting to study information and communication technology? ICT qualifications offer good job prospects and higher-than-average remuneration. Yet in the US, for example, the proportion of girls studying IT courses has dropped from a mid-'80s high of 37% to just 29% today – and falling.
Many European economies are now predicting a crisis in the number of trained IT professionals within the next 10-15 years. What is putting girls off technology? And why are some countries – particularly in the Asian region – succeeding in attracting female IT students? What are they doing differently – and what are they getting right?
This High-level Panel Debate will look at how IT is taught in schools and universities, how girls perceive careers in technology – and what is informing their life choices. What are the cultural and economic barriers – and how might we encourage more girls into the technology field?
Participation:
This event is open to representatives from UN agencies, national missions, the ICT industry, the education sector and the general public
.
RSVP to pressreg@itu.int by 8 March is essential to attend this event. Please bring photo ID (passport, carte d’identité).
Interpretation will be provided in French and English.
