Women now make up less than 20% of the UK’s 1.2 million
IT workforce, so the announcement of this year’s GCS Women in IT
Award medallists is a timely reminder to all IT employers that
opportunities for women are important for the future of the
profession.
The GCS Women in IT medallists in the 2006 BCS IT Professional
Awards are: West Dunbartonshire Council, ThoughtWorks, London
Borough of Barking and Dagenham and AstraZeneca.
The award, which is part of the annual BCS IT Professional
Awards, acknowledges employers who recognise the importance of
diversity in the workplace and the benefits of a more gender
balanced workforce. It is open to organisations that can
demonstrate how they have enhanced career paths for women in
IT.
It is just one element of a campaign by the BCS, through the
Women’s Forum working group, to ensure that more women see IT as a
career option.
Wendy Hall, chair of the Women’s Forum working group, explained
why the award is important in encouraging women into the workplace
and why the lack of women in IT must be addressed.
She said, “We need to address the gender imbalance in the IT
industry to overcome the lack of skills that women bring to the
workforce generally.
“All of us increasingly use IT in our daily lives but there are
very few women involved in the design, development and management
of IT systems.
“This award is an important step towards encouraging employers
to address diversity within their IT departments and to ensure they
offer career opportunities which are open to and supportive of both
sexes.”
Research has shown that low representation of women in the
profession is the result of negative stereotyping, continuing
sexism in the workplace and inflexible working practices in meeting
women’s needs to combine work with family responsibilities and the
lack of incentives to return to work after career breaks.
GCS, the IT recruitment company that is sponsoring the award,
said it is proud of its own 50/50 ratio of men and women in the
company.
Managing director Chris Bartlett said, “We are delighted to be
able to reward and encourage the efforts of companies that choose
the best candidate for the job, focusing on the person, their
skills and what they can bring to the organisation, department and
role.”
www.bcs.org/bcswomen
Information on BCS membership:
www.bcs.org/membership
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