About 37,000
women have gone missing from IT between 2001 and 2007,
according to the British Computer Society (BCS).
The BCS said such a large number could help to alleviate the
industry's much publicised
skills shortage. In 2001, 23% of the UK IT workforce was made
up of 229,440 women.
Last year this number had fallen to 192,580, a fall of 6%. This
was despite the overall number of IT professionals growing in the
same period.
The BCS has published a guide to retaining
female IT workers, aimed at HR directors and senior managers.
It contains case studies to help organisations retain employees who
wish to take a break to care for relatives or children.
BCS Women's forum manager Jan Peters says, "Credit crunch or
not, IT industry leaders are still predicting skills shortages. And
yet the number of women exiting the IT profession continues to rise
alarmingly, mainly due to the lack of flexibility offered by
employers."