WITsend

This is a guest blog from Nikki Briant, Insurance Analyst at Cognizant, who reflects on her experience over the last six months as a graduate entrant.

In my last post, I had just joined the graduate scheme at Cognizant, the global IT services and consultancy firm, within its insurance department. Six months on, I have gained a lot of valuable experience both inside and outside of my immediate role and am fully confident that I made the right career move.

In this guest blog Lesley Cowley OBE, chief executive of Nominet, discusses how the UK needs to encourage more girls into the IT sector in order to foster the next generation of IT talent.

It's a sad yet common misconception that the UK IT industry is a "man's world". Unfortunately, the statistics are hard to argue with - according to eSkills, fewer than one in seven applicants for IT courses are women and men outnumber women in the IT industry four to one.

When we did some research into young people's perceptions of IT careers, we discovered that 78% of girls are interested in working for technology companies, compared to just 13% of girls who picked non-tech businesses from a list. However, less than a third as many girls expressed a general interest in an IT career compared to boys. Which leads us to an interesting conclusion: it seems that girls aspire to careers at some technology companies, but not in the IT industry in general. 

But why is this? Setting aside the appeal of working for some well known IT brands, I believe it comes down to three common misconceptions which put girls off the IT industry generally from an early age.

The first misconception is that all careers in the IT sector are very technical - we found that half of the 13-24 year old students we surveyed believe this to be the case. Yet, I'm living proof that working for an IT company doesn't necessarily equate to a technology focused job role. Roles can focus on anything from driving the ambitions of the business to overseeing the day to day operations of the organisation and more. The variety of careers in the IT sector should be one of our major selling points.

The second common misconception is that the IT industry isn't a place where women can flourish - 40% of girls felt that a career in an IT company would be 'male dominated' whereas only 14% of males shared the same view. To dispel this myth, we recently visited a local school in Oxfordshire to run an IT career workshop as part of the international Girls into IT day. Students were surprised to learn that half our senior management team are women and there are great opportunities for women to flourish in IT in a huge variety of roles. While I appreciate that Nominet may be unusual in our 49% female and 51% male staff split, I strongly believe that the technology industry is one of the most meritocratic there is and one in which hard work, ability and determination can take you to the top.

The third is that you must have an ICT education or qualification to work in the IT industry. For some roles, a professional IT qualification such as that offered by the BCS, is essential but for other roles this simply isn't the case. I didn't have an ICT education and there are a whole range of different skills required for my role. There are also multiple routes into IT careers; from college and university courses to workplace apprenticeships. For example, our post A level apprentice scheme is currently in its third year and gives school leavers of both sexes the opportunity to apply for roles within our Technical Infrastructure, Software Development and Business Intelligence teams.

In order to quash these misconceptions it is paramount that IT businesses and business leaders do much more to dispel them. We also need to be much more proactive about selling a career in IT to prospective staff.  Apprentice schemes are a good starting point as they can offer students the opportunity to gain some on-the-job skills alongside college studies, meaning businesses can grow their own future IT talent. However, as a sector, we have been slow to embrace the potential for IT apprenticeships.

The IT sector also has to contend with girls being put off from IT careers in school. Almost two thirds of girls (65%) report that their ICT education had no impact on their IT career aspirations at all. In order to prevent girls from immediately ruling themselves out of working in the IT sector before they've even finished school or university, we need to help inspire young women in the subject at school. Great teaching will help, as will supporting worthy initiatives like e-Skills' 'Computer Clubs for Girls' which is a great way to helps girls develop their skills in IT. The sector also needs more successful and inspirational male and female role models too, who can enthuse about their roles in IT. 

Through the Nominet Trust, we are supporting young people to develop their technology skills with the launch of the Make Things Do Stuff website. Co-developed with Nesta and Mozilla the site encourages young people to learn by making and gives them the skills, confidence and motivation to create their own websites, animations, apps, games and gadgets. We hope that some of these young people will become the IT leaders of the future.

While the statistics show that there are currently more men in IT than women, those of us in the industry, together with education and government need to work harder and more effectively together to change this. In particular, the IT industry needs to re-double our efforts to inspire, train, attract and recruit from the whole talent pool and not just half of it. Just think of the benefits to both our businesses and the UK digital economy that would result. 

I received an email from a male reader, recently, who wanted to air his opinions on female managers.

After letting me know that he thinks an article of mine was "very one-sided" and "sexist" he shared his own views on gender: "What I would tell you about gender is that most people find it surprisingly difficult to work for a woman."

According to this reader four out of five of his female managers have been "aggressive to staff and emotional."

"Not sure why it happens, hormones, or just that people don't retaliate so much with women but a male would never get away with what I've see."

Despite making some comments that I would strongly disagree with, the reader did change his tune and make one very good point - you get good and bad in both genders and that it is down to an individual's character.

I agree with this guy when he says "gender has never made a difference to results."

Do you agree or disagree with this reader? You can join the discussion at our WITsend: Connecting Women in IT LinkedIn Group.

Have you taken the Mortimer Spinks and Computer Weekly Women in Technology Survey 2013, yet? Working in partnership with Mortimer Spinks, Computer Weekly would like to invite you to take our survey.

This short survey covers a range of issues such as whether females in the industry are happy with their careers, how you came to be in the tech sector and what factors you believe have a bearing on possible promotions....being in the office instead of remote working and socialising with senior management outside of work, for example.

By taking part you can share your views and opinions on the industry, and afterwards you will gain access to the results, along with industry analysis and coverage of the survey's outcome.

Read the results from last year's survey.

Computer Weekly readers are now entitled to a discount when registering for the everywoman in Technology Leadership Academy.

With the discount code of CW20 Computer Weekly readers receive 20% off.

The everywoman in Technology Leadership Academy takes place 12 June, at Cisco's Bedfont Lakes offices in Feltham. The theme this year is "Taking Charge of your Path to Success."

On the day two master classes will take place in strategic thinking for the female leader and preparing for tough conversations.

Places for the day are booking up fast, so if you would like to attend you can register here.

Find out what happened at the academy last year. I look forward to seeing you there.

For International Girls in ICT Day Little Miss Geek visited schools for its Wearable Tech Event.

Supported by Microsoft and Dell the aim of the day was to inspire the next generation of girls to become tech pioneers.

Little Miss Geek said they were told the girls found the speakers and workshops "an amazing highly empowering experience."

The schools involved are now expecting a higher uptake of girls choosing to study Computer Science at GCSE. Students are due to make their decisions this week.

Here's a short video of the event, including the mention Little Miss Geek got in Parliament.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGjqgWaAvMs&feature=youtu.be

I recently received this interesting infographic from TechSchool.com which provides some background on women in STEM today and what is being done to fix both gender disparity and the shortage of skills workers.

The infographic specifically covers the US, but I still thought it was worth a share on WITsend.

Research director at Microsoft, Rane Johnson-Stempson, said: "We needed to build a bridge to the future by getting girls excited in STEM early in their lives, and then keeping them engaged and supporting their learning all the way through their college education, internships, and into their careers."

Take a look at the infographic in full:

Courtesy of: Techschool.com

Nominet UK has revealed some interesting figures, revealing how girls are still feeling uninspired to enter the IT industry.

Its REBRAND:IT research of 2,008 13-24 year old students found how girls still consider a career in IT a technical and male dominated.

Of those that had received IT training only 7% of males and 13% of females felt their education was "excellent." Only 13% of females compared to 24% of males said they were inspired by their teachers to enter the IT sector.

Almost two thirds of girls (65%) report that their ICT education had no impact on their IT career aspirations at all.

Almost two thirds of females admitted that their experience of ICT education had no impact on their IT career aspirations.

17% females think of a career in IT as exciting, 36% as cutting edge and only 11% said they consider it to be boring. However, 50% believe it would be a very technical career path to take.

40% of females said a career in IT would be male dominated, but only 14% of males agreed with this.   

The figures found that only 10% of female students said they are interested in a career in IT, whereas 33% of male students said the opposite. However, 78% of females said they do aspire to careers in well-known tech companies such as Apple, Microsoft and Google. 78% of females said they would be interested in careers at such companies when chossing from a list including BA, Coca Cola, Ford and Nike.

Commenting on the research Lesley Cowley, CEO of Nominet, said: "It's great to see that young women are attracted to the idea of working for well-known technology companies. However, the overall image of IT careers still need something of a rebrand. A career in IT can mean much more than a technical role.

"For the benefit of the digital economy, those of us in the industry, education and government need to work together to help inspire and cultivate greater balance and equality in schools and in the workforce."

Karen Price, CEO of e-skills UK said: "We know that girls start to form negative perceptions of IT careers at a surprisingly young age.

"All the work we do is designed to show them how working in IT is exciting, challenging and rewarding and developing their IT skills could help them pursue a career in almost any field from music or journalism to business or sport."

To coincide with International Girls in ICT Day Nominet is visiting Didcot Girls School in Oxfordshire today. Student there have spent the day listening to talks and taking part in activities to learn about the options available to them within IT.

Nominet's chair baroness Rennie Fritchie said: "Times have changed but still too many companies in technology are recruiting from half of the talent pool because this industry is perceived to be the province of men. As a nation we should be addressing this.

"We are pleased to be supporting e-Skills CC4G programme as well as WITNET's Girls in ICT day, both excellent initiatives to open the eyes of young women to the practical realities of a career in IT and inspire them to the wider range of possibilities available to them."

FDM Group has launched a music video in a bid to stamp out the stereotype that IT pros are socially challenged geeks.

A keen supporter of encouraging more women in the industry, and tackling the skills shortage as a whole, FDM Group is on a mission to spread the word of the new geek chic.

FDM's CEO Rod Flavell said: "I'm delighted that so many FDMers got involved in the project, it really showcases our company's unique culture and inclusive ethos. Our aim is to bridge the gap between academia and the workplace, providing candidates with the opportunity to thrive in one of the fastest growing industries in the world.

None of the people in the video are professional actors; they are all FDMers - regular people that work in the IT Industry that are up for a good time."

Take a look at FDM Group's dance off master piece here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIoDgibzW7w

This is a guest blog from Hannah Dee, lecturer in computer science at Aberystwyth University and BCSWomen deputy chair.

The sixth BCSWomen Lovelace Colloquium was held at the University of Nottingham, on the 4th April 2013. The Lovelace is the UK's national conference for women undergraduate and taught MSc students, organised by BCSWomen with support from the local hosting institution, many industrial sponsors, and Aberystwyth University. Around 90 people came, from across the UK (the furthest travelled were a pair of MSc students from Robert Gordon, in Aberdeen, who made an 800 mile round trip). The day featured talks from industry and from academia, a panel session on careers, a poster session of student work, a social, and lots of time for networking.

The Lovelace has three aims:

• To provide a forum for undergraduate women to share their ideas and network
• To provide a stimulating series of talks from women in computing, both from academia and industry
• To provide both formal (talks) and informal (networking) advice to undergraduate women about careers in computing from a female perspective

The talks

• Natasha Alechina of Nottingham talked about ontologies; how we can formalise a domain, and how we can work out if there are bugs in our formalisation
• Jemma Chambers of CISCO spoke on her career; what it's like working in a big company on their graduate program, and talked a lot about why we have to sit at the table
• Julie Greensmith (also the host) spoke about artificial immune systems (AIS), and how interdisciplinary work can really pay benefits if you do it properly. Julie came up with the Dendritic Cell Algorithm in AIS and described that to us, as well as showing work that other researchers have done on this algorithm since her invention.
• The last talk before lunch was Gillian Arnold, BCSWomen chair. She spoke about the way tech careers can be really rewarding; she'd asked around her contacts for "the best moment in your career so far", which ranged from earning LOADS of cash, to getting an MBE, to helping out in developing countries... there are loads of different ways to have an excellent career in tech.
• After lunch, Hannah Dee spoke about my research into computer vision for plant imaging; her talk was presented entirely through timelapse photography and, like Julie's earlier talk, stressed the importance (and fun!) of interdisciplinary computer science.
• And finally, the last official talk of the day was given by Milena Nikolic of Google, who talked about how she got into Google, what it's like to work there, and what she's worked on so far - search, mobile, Google Play...

The Poster contest

This year the poster contest was amazingly strong. A lot of the sponsors got involved in the poster contest too: Google speaker Milena Nikolic helped judge the best first year contest, EMC staff helped judge best final year, and Madeleine Field from FDM helped judge the MSc student prize. It gives the students a real boost seeing actual recruiters from industry not only supporting the event with sponsorship, but also engaging with the students and their work.

The Google Excellence Award for Best First Year (£500, sponsored by Google, but I expect you've guessed that) went to:

• Roseanna McMahon, of the University of Bath

The second year student poster award, sponsored by the HEA, was so difficult to judge we gave two equal second place awards.

• First prize (£300) went to Carys Williams of the University of Bath
• Joint second prize awards (£100 each) went to Heidi Howard of the University of Cambridge, and Jo Dowdall of the University of Dundee

The best final year student poster award was sponsored by EMC, and went to

• First place (£300): Sia Xin Yun Suzannah of University of Edinburgh
• Second prize (£200): Dung Kim Hoang Tran of the University of Bath

The best Masters student poster award, sponsored by FDM, was also exceptionally difficult to judge. I can personally confirm that this was very difficult, as it was judged by myself, Amanda Clare, and Maddy from FDM; we spoke with all of the entrants, narrowed it down to four, then to three, then to two... and finally... We decided to split the prize and give two first place awards of £150 each to:

• Blessing Mbipom of Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen
• Maraim Masoud of University of Southampton

And finally the people's choice award for best poster as voted for by the attendees (£150, sponsored by Interface3) went to Alexandra Kearney, of the University of Edinburgh

If these women are the future of technology, we're in safe hands!

The Panel

The aim of the panel - and indeed a lot of the aim on the BCSWomen Lovelace Colloquium - is to show women students that there are loads of different ways to be a successful woman in computing. So on the panel this year we had Lucy Hunt, an independent contractor who arranges her work so she gets 2 months holiday every year; Gillian Arnold who's spent 20 years in IBM and who now runs her own company; Jemma Chambers who's in CISCO and has a young son; and Dr Amanda Clare a lecturer from Aberystwyth. This way, if students are thinking of an academic career, a big company, contracting, or entrepreneurship there's someone on the panel who's got experience of that and can provide advice. The discussion ranged far and wide, covering pretty much all aspects of life as a woman in computing from careers planning, to sexisim in the workplace, to work-life balance.

Social

The day finished off with a social in the Computer Science Atrium in Nottingham. The social was sponsored by CA Technologies; CA had been with us all day in the employer zone and generally networking with attendees. As people relaxed after the hectic day with a well-deserved glass of wine or juice (and cake), CA reps chatted with students about their career plans, people got together to take photographs with new friends and old, and lots of people said they'd like to come again next year.

This is guest blog from VMware EMEA's R&D site director, Diana Stefanova, who talks about the benefits of being a woman in a technology career and advises others how to follow in her footsteps.

People still tend to ask how I ended up in R&D at one of the world's biggest technology companies and my answer has always been the same; I actually think that the technology chose me. While my career started in finance, I have always worked for IT companies. Over the years, I went from leading the finances of IT companies through to leading the business operations and corporate development at a major software developer, which eventually led to running the R&D Operations for VMware's R&D Sites in EMEA. Although the IT chose me, I've never looked back. This industry is changing the world we live in - both in our working and consumer lives.

Females represent approximately half of the world's population, and it's well-known that this isn't currently reflected in the IT industry. In this market we are always in need for more resources and by not encouraging women to go into technology we are missing out on some vital intellectual IT resource! There are multiple research studies already suggesting that better business results are achieved in companies with a more diverse leadership team and think there should be more initiatives to encourage women to get into the IT space. Women and men are very different and the perspectives both bring to the table are invaluable when it comes to solving problems. In R&D especially, you need both a male and female attitude to addressing the pros and cons of any particular product - especially as there's just as much chance the end-user is female as they are male.

This mindset should be applicable across the industry - and across departments. I think we need a change in perception that the IT space is a place for males, so it feels more natural for women to consider the industry when making their career choices. I've been lucky to end up in IT, but don't really feel that other women know just how rewarding it can be and the industry is missing out as a result. After all, having the right balance between men and women throughout IT companies would make a huge difference in the way that companies operate and I definitely believe a shift would lead to better results.

But in a lot of ways, it's up to the current women in IT to stand up and encourage younger women to believe in themselves and educate them on the merits of being in such an interesting industry. I have to say that both my first and my current managers are women and they have made an enormous impact on me and my career. My first manager believed in me and helped me become an independent, proactive and well-rounded professional, while my current manager is a great role-model and someone that many people could learn from. I would encourage other women in the industry to talk about the great work they are doing. I myself have had the opportunity to work with, and get inspired by, many women and this made me who I am today. I'm very proud that VMware chose to take part in the FDM everywoman in Technology Awards this year as the event is a great way to showcase the fantastic work that women are doing in the industry and to encourage the younger generation to follow in their footsteps.

This is a guest blog by Jane Steed, project analyst at Capgemini, and chair of OUTfront, the Capgemini UK LGBT Network.

Something funny, though perhaps not unusual, happened to me in the office earlier this month. I was talking to my colleague, with whom I had been working for perhaps six months, about moving home, and made reference to my wife.

"Husband!" he corrected me. "Wife!" I replied, "Husband!" he repeated, "No, wife!" I confirmed, "You said 'your wife'!" he reiterated, as if he were speaking to a woman who was blatantly losing her marbles. "I know, I have a wife," I said.

 Silence.

And gradually a slightly embarrassed realisation spread across his face. And nothing more was said.

My name is Jane Steed. I am a 41 year old mother of two and I have been in a civil partnership for just over three years. This is an almost everyday occurrence for me, and for many gay people working in the UK today. It's not abuse, it's not something that's worth complaining about, and indeed it's something I'd not even thought worth mentioning. But I was talking to some colleagues about the purpose of our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) network, OUTfront, that I helped found four years ago in the UK. My initial intention was purely 'normalisation'. We live and work in such a British polite environment, for which I am extremely grateful. In my 18 years working in the IT industry, I have never encountered any direct bigotry or homophobia, which is really pleasing, but we do still have this very British embarrassment.

Part of my 'normalisation' aim is to demonstrate that we are all different but connected through commonalities. I tick various 'diversity' boxes - particularly in IT, being a women, being gay - but this is not what makes me who I am. And it is not what I have in common with the majority of my colleagues. Indeed there are far more commonalities than differences; the sector in which we work, the work itself which motivates us, working on projects, designing IT solutions etc.

So why have an LGBT network at all?

Maybe it will always exist because it is nice to meet people with something in common, people who are like you. When I meet people in LGBT groups outside of work, I often have very little in common with them, only that one little thing. Whereas a network at Capgemini brings together people who already have a lot they share in common, and also have the LGBT element, but that's almost the least important part.

It is simply being able to talk about our husbands, wives and partners, and dating, without that embarrassing silence. By being people who choose to work in a multi-national, multi-cultural company who specialise in IT consulting, we choose to work mostly in offices, often from home, often on teleconferences or video conferences, often problem solving analysis, often poring over numbers - but that's nothing that most of my friends outside of work do. They are teachers and nurses and farmers and receptionists and beauticians, all sorts of people... with whom I don't necessarily have a lot in common in terms of all day every day? We spend so much of our life at work, it's really important to be ourselves and feel comfortable when we're there.

It is important that something like OUTfront exists, but our long-term aim is for it not to be needed at all. And if I achieve my aim, we can avoid those oh so British silences, and all celebrate a colleague's forthcoming 'gay marriage' comfortably.

This is a guest blog from Béarice Piquer-Durand, vice president of marketing at Ipanema Technologies.

International Women's Day was earlier this month, and received a lot of media attention. It's a day which both celebrates the progress women's rights have made, but also highlights how much more work remains in the battle for equality between the sexes. I work as VP of marketing at Ipanema Technologies;  my journey to a senior position over the years has been peppered with excellent advice and career lessons, as well as some words of 'wisdom' I'd rather forget!

Women are very heavily outnumbered in the technology industry, and the BBC recently reported that they make up only 17% of workers. It's notorious for being a sector which appeals mainly to men, though recent high-profile female appointments such as Marissa Mayer to President and CEO of Yahoo last July and Julie Larson Green to President of Microsoft at the end of last year are paving an important path.

Employment in technology faces a paradox. On one hand, the industry is set to enjoy very strong job growth for the next decade, with the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) suggesting that there will be a growth in jobs of 22%. On the other, the NCWIT highlights that 56% of women in technology leave at a 'mid-level' position within their careers, a number far higher than their male counterparts. I believe the presence of women at the head of companies can boost results; and that in general, when women reach executive level, they are highly motivated and effective.

Below are a few pieces of advice which have helped me greatly over my career, and which are relevant for workers across all sectors.

Don't feel pressured to act in a masculine way.
If you're surrounded by men, a natural instinct may be to act like one. Don't - there's no need. Before I joined Ipanema Technologies, (but still working within the technology sector), I was given some awful advice by a senior colleague, who told me to curb my 'feminine' creativity, and favour rationality. The advice was more than just offensive, it was wrong; it completely overlooked the opportunity that comes with combining different ways of thinking. It's not about women being 'better' than men, but simply the fact that diversity maximises creativity, and with creativity comes results. Enjoy the differences in approach, and try not to fit in purely for the sake of it. 

Draw a line between work and home
Juggling a hectic work schedule with a demanding family life can be an enormous challenge, and the pressures of an intensive business environment can be tricky to navigate. With seniority comes an elevated workload, and this means work time can threaten to bleed into home time. It's particularly important to be able to draw a line between office and home life and minimise the crossover as much as possible.

Create clear boundaries in terms of where the work day finishes and family time begins. I usually work into the evening, but then I close my laptop. This allows for family time to be fully appreciated without distraction, and affords a complete break from work duties for a few hours. Maintaining this healthy work-life balance can be difficult, but it's absolutely crucial.

Separate work and play
Holidays can also benefit from this strict compartmentalisation. Setting clear boundaries with colleagues allows you to switch off and dedicate yourself completely to family time. I have found it particularly helpful to have a 'phase out' period. For the first three days of holiday, I still respond to some emails. After that, I switch off. I'm only available for emergency calls.

Be organised but not inflexible
Women working at senior levels have to be organised - both at work and at home. If you're working full-time, there's a good chance you'll need to rely on others to assist with childcare or housework, which naturally requires scheduling and foresight.  It's very easy to fall into the trap of thinking you can 'do it all', but there's a need to be honest with yourself regarding what you can achieve alone, and where you need help.

We've probably all learnt the hard way that even the best-laid plans are prone to falling through. This is where flexibility becomes necessary, be it from your own working schedule, or from having family members who are willing to help in an emergency. A strong support network is a huge help and can help minimise a great deal of strain.

Attitudes towards women in the workplace are certainly becoming more progressive. But there are still old stereotypes to battle with. I've noticed that occasionally women in business are perceived as being less efficient, seen as having less time to dedicate to work because of responsibilities at home.  

I also work in France, where there's the belief that women are only interested in shopping and houses, not business and technology.

I found that to handle this, I needed to prove I could communicate competently with the rest of the team, demonstrating that I had learnt about and understood the technology within our company. Once you've shown others that you're able to handle yourself and the situation well, gender doesn't come into it quite so much.

The tech industry has a very bright future. I've no doubt that many share my hope that women are an integral part of that future.

I've heard several speeches and presentations on the importance of role models, but who is taking it upon themselves to actually be a role model for young women? Do we have enough females willing to visit schools and career fairs to show these girls how attractive a career in tech can be?

To celebrate International Women's Day, recently, Lady Geek took over two girls' secondary schools, to show girls the opportunities available to them if they were to choose a career in tech.

Lady Geek, founded by Belinda Parmer, visited Queen Elizabeth Girl's School in Hertfordshire and St Saviour's and St Olave's School in London.

Present on the day was Joanna Sheilds, of Woman's Hour Power List 2013, Olivia Solon, of Wired, Emma Barnett from the Telegraph, Laura Paterson from Thoughtworks and Siobhan Reddy from Media Molecule.

The ladies walked the girls through coding and games design workshops, in a bid to inspire them and to end the perception that people who work in IT are "pizza guzzling nerds who cannot get girlfriends."

A video from the day can be found here where you can see how Lady Geek brought technology to the classroom for the day.

This is a guest blog from Sangita Singh, senior vice president, global head - healthcare and life sciences at Wipro Technologies.

With the European Union going into lengthy discussions about boardroom quotas, the hotly contested issue of increasing the number of female executives is high on the agenda for 2013.  Recently, there has been a lot of debate around how best to ensure more women make it into the top jobs, with the EEF calling for a national campaign to encourage more girls to study STEM subjects and to increase the numbers of women on boards.

And it's not surprising that such organisations are putting out a rallying call for change; according to Europe-wide figures published in 2012, the percentage of women in boardrooms was just 13.7%. Moreover, according to further figures published last year, of the Fortune 500 companies only 19 (that's less than 5 per cent) have a woman at the top.

I'm not saying the situation is completely bleak; in India, the situation is certainly improving and we are seeing women in politics, banking, manufacturing and the technology sector too. However, we need to see more success stories globally - particularly in the traditionally 'male' professions. The handful of women CEOs we have today does not adequately reflect women's true potential and I really believe it is in our collective interest to see a dramatic change.

There is a real need to get to the core of why women aren't making it into the boardroom. Given the fact that in the early stages of corporate careers the ratio is more or less 50-50 between men and women - why do the proportions change so dramatically as careers progress? Once the mid-level point is reached, the ratio is skewed to a shocking 80-20 in favour of men, and at senior levels - the 'game changers' stage - it reaches an abysmally low 5 per cent.

Clearly, many women drop out of their professions just as they are peaking. A few years into their careers, they find themselves at the classic crossroads, where the pressures and conditioning of societal convention make many step down from the ladder. Dragon's Den's Hilary Devey addressed exactly this issue just this week, making the controversial claim that "The glass ceiling does not exist...I can't get any women on my board because women generally put their partner and children first."

I feel passionate that such a stark decision shouldn't have to be made.  A woman should feel supported by her family, spouse, organisation and society so that she can pursue her passions and live up to her professional potential without being made to feel guilty and torn by such choices.

As a female corporate executive myself, juggling my career, travel, in-laws, a son, my husband and society, I can empathise with the pulls and pressures of family and business; of expectations from others - not to mention my own expectations. Some useful advice for young women in early phases of their careers would be: stay positive, stay passionate, try to prioritise, don't dwell, regret or brood excessively, and you really can have it all.

The modern career woman often finds herself in a 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' situation when trying to navigate the fine line which divides their work and personal lives. The reasons are varied: from old sociocultural attitudes to legacy laden environments that are just not suited to promote female success. As Rebecca Armstrong at the Independent quite rightly pointed out, ambition is not a stick to beat anyone with; drive and motivation are praiseworthy qualities in men and the same should be the case for women.

It is hard to foresee exactly what the outcome of the EU discussions will be; there are strong arguments both for and against boardroom quotas and clearly even among female executives sentiment is far from homogenous. However, what is fantastic to see is that the issue is being addressed and talked about. From Hilary Devey's contentious comments to the EEF's latest outcry for more women in STEM industries, the prospect of increasing the number of women in senior positions is looking increasingly positive every day.  And with such positivity around International Women's Day just a few weeks ago, the future for ambitious girls and women looks bright.

I recently met with Sarah Shields, executive director and UK/I general manager of Dell, who filled me in on the work surrounding the Dell Women's Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) and the importance of networking.

Luckily Sarah has a wealth of knowledge on the subject of women in IT, and was open to talking, as I was suffering from a bad mouth ulcer (I'm finally on the mend - thank you for the Ambersol tip Sarah).

Fully qualified to talk on the topic, Sarah runs Dell UK and Ireland with two other ladies who are responsible for over 4,000 staff. Dell has a Women Powering Business initiative which aims to help women entrepreneurs and technologists expand their networks.   

Back in January over 40 ladies attended Dell's first UK DWEN event of 2013, which took place at Shakespeare's Globe in London.  

The evening was hosted by Sarah (pictured) and included a panel with Julia Grinham (Upper Street), Kelly Dolan (Entrepreneur Country), Belinda Parmer (Lady Geek) and Kelly McGinnis, global vice president, public relations and communications at Dell.

The ladies used the evening to discuss the importance of networking; something which DWEN can be very useful for.

DWEN will be holding its annual event this year in Istanbul, Turkey from June 2-4, which looks like its set to be a jam packed event over just three days.

Sarah said at these types of networking events, you never know who you are going to meet. She explained how useful it can be to share a coffee during a break session with someone who you may think is just another attendee, but turns out to be someone in charge of a huge company that could be a valuable contact for you.

The DWEN network can be found on Twitter and LinkedIN.

Today I had the pleasure of attending the 2013 FDM everywoman in Technology Awards, an event you can't help but leave with a feeling of admiration for all women who work within the IT sector.

Taking place at The Savoy Hotel in London, and compered by TV presenter Angela Lamont, the awards are designed to recognised women that are driving innovation, pioneering new practices and fuelling the economy.

Research by everywoman and Alexander Mann Solutions, called Focus on the Pipeline, recently found that STEM has the highest number (80%) of female middle managers who want to progress in their careers - highlighting the level of ambition that exists within the female IT workforce.  

Now in its third year the infectious atmosphere of enthusiasm and passion, within in the Savoy ballrooms, never fails to inspire.

The winners in the 2013 FDM everywoman in Technology Awards are:

Woman of the Year - sponsored by FDM Group

• Eleni Antoniadou, Co-founder and Chief of Science, Transplants without Donors from London

Entrepreneur of the Year - sponsored by Alcatel-Lucent

• Jennifer Sheridan, Founder & CEO, Togeva Ltd from London

Innovator of the Year - sponsored by The Institution of Engineering and Technology

• Joanna Montgomery, Founder & CEO, Little Riot from Newcastle

Inspiration of the Year - sponsored by VMware

• Deborah Gundle, Founder/Director, Netbuddy from London

Leader of the Year - in a corporate organisation (with over 500 employees) - sponsored by BP

• Lucy Dimes, Chief Executive Officer, UK & Ireland, Alcatel-Lucent from London

Rising Star of the Year - sponsored by Cisco

• Taylor McGhee, Integrated Supply Chain Specialist Apprentice, IBM UK Ltd from Port Glasgow

Team Leader of the Year - in a SME (with under 500 employees) - sponsored by salesforce.com

• Tamara Lohan, Co-founder & CTO, Mr & Mrs Smith from London

Maxine Benson, co-founder of everywoman said: "This year the judging panel were overwhelmed by the extraordinary talents, energy and drive of all the finalists and selecting these winners was no easy feat. Each one of these inspirational women excels in many different ways, yet they share many qualities - a clear vision, incredible passion for IT and a firm belief that there are no barriers to what can be achieved.

"The technology sector has demonstrated its commitment in the past few decades to embracing and nurturing its female talent, and we hope by celebrating these winners today, we can encourage others to follow in their footsteps."

Sheila Flavell, chief operating officer and founder director of FDM Group pointed out that the FDM everywoman in Technology Awards are a "fantastic platform to showcase and celebrate the efforts and successes of so many high-calibre women in such a male-dominated industry.

We are delighted to be sponsoring the 2013 Awards and support everywoman in their determination to raise the profile of women in technology. Like everywoman, FDM is fully committed to helping more women further their careers and break through the 'glass ceiling'." 

Maggie Berry, managing director of Women in Technology said: "We want to actively champion the women who are already doing great work in this sector and who, through these awards, will become inspirational role models for a future generation of female technologists."

For the first time the awards included a Lifetime Achievement Award, which was sponsored by Alexander Mann Solutions. The award was won by Dame Stephanie Shirley for her significant contribution to the industry. The award was presented to her for her lifelong passion for inspiring and enabling women to achieve success in technology.

This morning I was also invited to attend a roundtable hosted by everywoman. This included senior leaders and influencers from global technology companies, who used the opportunity to discuss challenges facing the industry.

Interesting points were raised on how to attract more women to industry and how to retain those that are already there. In-depth coverage of this roundtable to follow on Computer Weekly very shortly.  

Congratulations to all of the winners from today's event and thank you to FDM and everywoman for a great awards ceremony. More content on the winners to follow!