Where have all the women gone? That's what Ginny McCright, IBM Developer of i5/OS Storage and SAN Management, wants to know. The scarcity of women in information technology and engineering arises from the fact that college and university women are not choosing technology majors, she notes. Data from the National Center for Women & Information Technology (ncwit.org) show that although women held 51 percent of professional occupations in the U.S. in 2006, they filled only 26 percent of professional IT positions. The numbers get even worse. The NCWIT reports a 70 percent decline in the number of female first-year college students who chose to major in computer science between 2000 and 2005.

McCright, who has an undergraduate business degree, returned to the University of North Dakota to earn a master's degree in computer science when she was in her thirties and her youngest child was in kindergarten. She later returned to teach undergraduate computer science classes, and that's when she noticed a tendency for female students to come for the first class and then decide against technology courses.

IBM Certified Senior Project Manager Becky Schmieding had a similar experience. An alumna of South Dakota State University who serves as campus recruiting manager and a member of the Electrical Engineering Advisory Council, Schmieding discovered this trend two years ago when she gave a presentation to freshmen about technology of the future. Out of roughly 300 students — the entire college of engineering — she counted eight women. "I said we've got to do something about this," Schmieding remembers.

McCright and Schmieding are indeed following IBM's example. The company has a long history of support for women professionals — it named Ruth Leach its first female vice president in 1943 and runs EXploring Interests in Technology and Engineering (EXITE) camps aimed at seventh- and eighth-grade girls. McCright is the Minnesota chapter lead for Women in Technology (WIT), which works to draw more girls into technical professions. She and a group of volunteers offer many technology-related programs, including a weeklong camp each summer. She says workshops for middle and high school students help build leadership skills and expose young women to female role models as they explore robotics and other fascinating, cutting-edge technologies. She believes that the workshops also build confidence, something she says was crucial to her success as an older student. McCright recalls that her male classmates were already quite skilled in technology, and she wasn't reluctant to ask them questions. She tells young women that they can fearlessly do that too. "The guys already knew Unix or Linux. I didn't know either."

Schmieding founded a program of one-day workshops at her alma mater designed for eighth graders and high school students. She enlisted the help of representatives of local companies who sit with her on the advisory board. Along with IBM, which made in-kind donations, Daktronics, MidAmerican Energy Company, and 3M contributed thousands of dollars. "It's in their interest too," she notes.

Schmieding says the workshops are designed to inspire girls to consider IT careers. The eighth graders are treated to a presentation featuring successful women in IT, and the high school students focus on programming and civil engineering topics such as water purification. The sessions are having an impact. Schmieding says that after one workshop, more than 90 percent of the girls reported that they were interested in technology careers, compared to less than 40 percent before the seminar. Attendance is growing too. The high school camp started with 25 students, and last year 50 attended. "I'm actually encouraged. We're seeing a lot more interest," Schmieding notes.

She says that to keep their options open, young women must continue to pursue math and science classes. "If you stop taking math and science, you close the door to a lot of degrees" that tend to lead to higher-than-average salaries. The median salary for a computer scientist in 2006 topped $93,000 (see "Jobs at a Glance,"). Schmieding, who cut her teeth on the System/3 and moved through the System/36, the AS/400, and the System i has seen her salary increase by a factor of 10 during her career. Young women need to know that the pay can go beyond the inflation rate, she says.

IT is also a good choice for those who want to have families, because the field offers flexibility. Schmieding says that she sometimes takes her nieces and nephews along on international business trips, and she also finds time to take them to basketball games. "Do you have to be at the job from 8 to 5 most days? No. There is a lot more flexibility in technology than in other jobs," she points out.

McCright and Schmieding feel that there are several barriers that companies and professionals must overcome to encourage more women to enter the field.

Attitudes. McCright says there is a perception that science- and technology-based work is the domain of geeks. "Math and science are cool," she asserts. "You can be cool and smart at the same time." Schmieding believes that IT professionals must take steps to change the perception, among both men and women, that the jobs are boring. "I've covered the world. It's not just sitting at a desk all day."

Reasons for offshoring. Schmieding points out that companies are only exporting the majority of technology jobs to India and China because there aren't enough skilled workers in the U.S. to meet the demand. "In some ways, it's a national crisis," she says. "We drive the technology. It's important for any country to have a technology base." Therefore, by encouraging more women, as well as more people in general, to pursue careers in technology, the problem of offshoring could be diminished by simply having more skilled workers. Although it's true that the number of computer operator positions is declining, that's largely due to advances in technology, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. However, the demand for computer scientists and other technology-related positions is, by all means, not decreasing (see "Jobs at a Glance").

The Einstein perception. Schmieding has observed that most women in technology and engineering majors are on the dean's list, and that fact might intimidate prospective students."We need everyone in there, not just straight A students."

Parental awareness. Students usually consult with their parents when selecting colleges and jobs. McCright reports that, in her workshops, many of the girls most interested in the field have parents involved in math- or science-based careers. Educating parents about the benefits of technology and engineering studies would help direct more young women to choose those courses, she explains.

The benefit is corporate. IT directly benefits people and society, which is important for young women to know. According to Schmieding, she is helping to develop technology that could enable an MRI to run "10 times faster," which would decrease the time a patient would have to spend in the machine.

The U.S. Department of Labor projects that more than one million computer-related jobs will be created over the next six years. Professionals such as McCright and Schmieding hope to inspire women to fill them.

Melissa Sgroi is a freelance business, technology, and education writer who was formerly a print and broadcast news journalist. She teaches journalism and new media at a small liberal arts college in Pennsylvania and has written several articles for System iNEWS and the System iNetwork.