SXSWi: Go for IT! Attracting Girls to Technology

This panel included Jeri Countryman, Dr. J. Strother Moore (UT), Carol Muller, Clare Richardson, Abbie Tittizer (IBM), and one gentleman whose name isn’t in the program. He looked like Quincy Jones and advocated mentoring as a way to get girls into tech, but I didn’t get his name.

There was some talk about the misperception among both males and females that women are less likely to be interested in computer science. Especially among women, this really holds them back. For example, if a woman is asked her gender at the beginning of a test she scores lower than when she is asked her gender at the end of a test. And when a panel is given identical resumes that have the names changed to reflect different genders, a male name is chosen as the best person by both men and women who are doing the judging. So there is a pervasive societal problem to overcome.

The panelists each explained the various programs and approached that their organizations use to reach out to women in CS and IT.

Sorry, no photos of this one. I know you want to see the Quincy Jones look-alike.

Technorati Tags:

One thought on “SXSWi: Go for IT! Attracting Girls to Technology”

Leave a Reply