E-skills tries to persuade teens IT is not boring

The sector training body for IT, E-skills, launched its latest campaign yesterday, drafting in Olympians and companies such as MySpace in an attempt to show teenagers how exciting IT is.

The BigAmbition campaign is aimed at all teenagers, but has an emphasis on persuading girls to think about an IT career. E-skills wants to tackle the perception among young people that IT is boring, by showing them the type of career it is possible to have.

"Young people think that IT is nerdy, geeky and not exciting," said Martin Harvey, director of UK partnerships at e-skills. "This is our attempt to change that attitude."

The problem is not gender specific, Harvey said, but is particularly acute among girls. Just 18% of the current IT workforce is female.

The success of the campaign will be measured by any increases in the number of applicants for IT-related degree courses, or IT A-levels. The first job of campaign organisers is to get as many girls registered on the BigAmbition website as possible.

"It is trying to demonstrate to youngsters that IT is everywhere, in just about every sector - including fashion, music and design," said Harvey.

Two-time Olympic gold medallist, sailor Sarah Webb kicked off yesterday's (19 November) event, which was attended by 200 13-year-old girls.