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in computer science is just incredibly helpful; and yet, college guidance counselors are not encouraging women to study technology as part of their curriculum.” Lyn Snyder, a computer programming professor at Owens Community College in Ohio, agreed. But she pointed out that the problem starts even earlier in some cases. “The guys [in elementary school] get into computers so much earlier because all of those software games are geared toward men — the ‘shoot ’em up, bang, bang’ [types]. Teachers [need] to make sure that they don’t promote this gender bias and that it doesn’t become a thing in grade school for guys to be the ones that are standing around the [classroom] computer.” Owens Community College has recognized the importance of reaching out to a younger age group, and the IT program has focused recruiting efforts down to the seventh-grade level. “We realized that many of them already have it set in their minds by ninth and 10th grade what they think they want to be,” Snyder said. Kinzie Doll, a technology assistant at Liberty Public School District in Missouri, graduated from high school in 2007 and said it was encouragement from her teachers that made the difference. “My middle school [computer] teacher kind of got me into [technology],” Doll explained. “My biggest influence, though, was my teacher I ended up having my senior year. She’s very motivating, and she does as much as she can to get her students to be successful.” In eighth grade, Doll looked into Cisco’s two-year Networking Academy program at a local technology school. After a tour, she decided it was a good fit. But out of 40 students in her class, Doll said only four were girls — and two of them dropped out after the first year. One reason she said young girls are shying away from IT is a sense of intimidation. “I think a lot of people are intimidated by [the industry] because it’s so male-dominated,” she said. “There is this mentality that girls can’t do technology. [In school], I was all about showing the boys up. I’m very, ‘You tell me I can’t do it, and I’ll show you I can.’” Doll has proven this through her impressive IT credentials. As a sophomore in high school, she became certified in Microsoft Office 2003, and by graduation, she also had passed her A+, i-Net+ and CCNA exams. She also recently won first place in a SkillsUSA post-secondary competition that showcases the country’s brightest technical students. Cultural Perception Another challenge to the diversity of the IT workforce is the deeply ingrained perception about what kind of person makes a good IT professional. “Computer science and IT have more of an image problem now than they did back in 1983-1984, when desktop computers were new for everyone,” Slade said. “Now, it’s a lot easier to point to a picture of a pale white guy with glasses and a pocket protector and say, ‘That’s a geek who’s into computers.’” Even beyond the stereotype of the professionals themselves is the idea of what the job entails. Many still have a picture in their minds of an IT worker sitting in a dark room in the basement writing code or playing with hardware. “We try to expose the diversity of what a networking career looks like to get people around the myth that if you come into [IT] , you sit in the back room,” said Jeanne Beliveau-Dunn, general manager of Learning@Cisco. “That’s not really what IT careers look like anymore. You might start off doing networking operations, [but] you’re still interfacing with lots of people and talking to customers and [there’s] very much a social aspect to the job.” Marketing IT to Women One way to overcome these stereotypes is through the use of awareness campaigns and role models. Meeting women who are conquering the IT world helps other females see the profession as something more attainable for themselves. “It starts first with awareness: [We] try to bring exposure to other folks about these [women] that have made it in IT in a major way and have these very robust, significant careers,” Dunn said. To this end, during Owens’ conference-style “We Are IT” event for young girls, attendees participate in a program called “lunch buddies.” Several students and one or two IT businesswomen November 2008 CERTIFICATION MAGAZINE 7 http://certification.comptia.org/a/default.aspx http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/le2/le0/le9/learning_certification_type_home.html https://www.owens.edu/ http://www.liberty.k12.mo.us/ http://www.liberty.k12.mo.us/ http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/netacad/academy/index.html http://www.weareit.org/index.html http://www.weareit.org/index.html

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Certification - November 2008

Certification - November 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Tech Careers Dear Techie Virtual Village Data Stream Academic Connection Troubleshooting What We Like Look Ahead The Gender Gap: IT Lacks a Woman’s Touch IT for Free: Volunteering Today Interface Technical Architect: Learning, Growing, Innovating Inside Certification Endtag Ad Index

Certification - November 2008

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