Computers for girls get patronising gov programme

Professur

Professur

Well-Known Member
The government is extending a pilot after-schools programme which aims to keep more young women interested in a career in the IT industry.

The "Computer Club for Girls" is run by e-skills UK. It aims to use fashion, music and celebrities to keep the attention of girls and improve their skills. The service is targeted at girls aged between 10 and 14 - typically the age they lose interest in technology even if they have shown an interest earlier.

Skills minister Phil Hope said: "Just one in five ICT workers are women and this figure is falling. It is good news that we are now able to offer Computer Clubs for Girls to schools across the UK." Hope said e-skills UK is developing "exciting online material".

All the schools which took part in the pilot reported pupils have higher levels of confidence since taking part. The next step is improving courses for students over 14.

The minister called on business to support the scheme by donating hardware or software and by identifying role models for girls.

The technology industry has a poor track record in attracting female applicants. The University of Derby started a campaign after realising that it had no female applicants for its computer gaming degree.
Click to expand...

source

Am I the only one who sees the problem with this?
 
My granddaughter is in computer club at school. ;)

*I'm so proud, sniff, sniff.*
 
They just need to skip this inefficient crap and just assign people careers at birth.

A little IQ scan followed with a computer chip in the neck... viola! instant Orwellian armada.
 
My school didn't have a computer club but I did take a "computer math" course that I took. My father also encouraged my interest in it. If I hadn't been exposed to it so much in school and at home, I may not have continued my interest and later, made a career out of it.

Let's face it though, just like there are more men in construction than women, it will probably always be the case in IT also. But I don't see anything wrong with challenging traditional employment roles to allow children to make their own decisions on what they want to be when they grow up. That should include everything, not just the roles that fit nicely with their gender.
 
I'll do an actual count, but I would estimate about 35 - 40% of our IT dept is women. And the majority of them I wouldn't want to do without. I can't say that about the men in my dept.
 
The head of our IT dept. is female, and I wouldn't trade her in on anyone. I fear the day she leaves us.
 
We didn't even know what a computer was in school, and now
my older sister is IT w/4-5 certifications. :shrug:
 
greenfreak said:
I don't see anything wrong with challenging traditional employment roles to allow children to make their own decisions on what they want to be when they grow up. That should include everything, not just the roles that fit nicely with their gender.
Click to expand...


There's nothing wrong with women in IT. There's something seriously out of step with a school making a club to promote things that someone doesn't exist. Women, girls, if they are interested, will participate. If they aren't they won't. Same goes for the guys. I don't see too many clubs trying to get guys into daycare facilities.
 
In my school, Home Economics was required for all students, boys and girls. Don't know if they do it anymore but at the very least, everyone learned how to boil water, make cookies, etc. They made it a requirement for a reason, mostly for the boys.

I'm sure there's no shortage of boys in a computer club. They're only trying to draw in the girls too. My track coach came to all the gym classes to recruit girls because there were so many boys on team. What's wrong with that? Once I was recruited, I realized how much I liked it. I never would have done it myself.

All kids, boys and girls, should have as much computer skills as possible. They should know how to type too. This can only help them, I still don't see an issue with it.
 
I just realized something... in the original article, it mentions the University of Derby offers a computer gaming degree. A computer gaming degree?
 
I wonder if that's for game development/coding. I laughed at a guy who was looking into that as a job years ago. I'm not laughing anymore, it's a huge business.
 
Sounds similar to what happens up here when we have a lack of people in one skill or another... the GVT extends the UI of anyone willing to take those certifications.
Lets not forget that women make up more than 1/2 the population... that's a huge loss of intelligent people...especially in a growing market...if barely any of them try out for that skill-set.

Its marketing and nothing wrong with it.
 
btw...how is that 'patronising'?
Patronizing would be like giving all women who try out for IT an automatic pass because they're only women and can't be expected to understand computers like men can.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top