Young women in information and communication technology is an opportunity for growth – opinion
Written by Anna Ribsio, Anna Paula Avonso, Katia Peskita and Terisa Champil
Private women’s skills make them good professionals in many areas where higher education in ICT technologies (ICT) is an added value of their ability to work on multidisciplinary contexts, care and creation. At a time when information and communication technology transforms the world, women have the opportunity to contribute a great activity in society and build a global future.
Despite the advantages associated with diversity in the work teams in the information and communications technology region, this female type is still reported in this man -dominated sector. To understand the reasons that lead to this sub -representation and to ensure what removes women from a profession in information and communications technology, inquiries have been conducted in the most diverse forums. Some results indicate that, even that even choosing training in the region, some young women face difficulty in feeling integrated and supported at the beginning of the professional course, in the end give up building a profession. This ends with an increase in the inability of sex in the sector.
Another need for some women, when they choose a profession in information and communications technology, is that their work can make a difference. In this sense, and attracting younger women, there are multiple initiatives. Some companies and institutions promote activities in which they develop technological projects and entrepreneurship that can contribute to the public good (for example, Microsoft, Technovation Girls, etc.). However, the contrast in the information and communication technology sector is still clear. With the pace of this contrast, it will take 67 years to eliminate it in Europe alone (according to Women Tech International).
The objectives of the European Union program for the digital contract program include reducing gender difference in information and communications technology as a measure to benefit from the progress of society and economic growth. In recent years, in Portugal, there has been a moderate increase in female representation in this field, in higher education. According to the General Directorate of Education and Science Statistics, in Portugal, 0.7 % of women registered in the study of higher education in the degree of information and communication technology, while this percentage of men is 3 %. In particular, in the degree of information engineering at the College of Science (Ulisboa), 16 % of students are of a female type, while in the degree of information techniques, and also this college, this percentage is 20 %.
“Girls on the Day of IT and Communications Technology” (International Day of Women in Information and Communications Technologies) was placed at the international level on the fourth Thursday of April, in the International Telecommunication Union, with the aim of increasing awareness of young women about job opportunities in information and communications technology. But the responsibility and opportunity to overcome the ideas presented and stereotypes and contribute to the progress of society is available to all of us.
