 Sharon O'Shaughnessy, Senior Account Manager, Managed Services and IGA Canada, Global Technology Services Delivery, IBM Canada |
ITAC: Women are under represented in the Canadian ICT industry. Why do you think that is?
SO: Traditionally, fewer women have entered technical programs as their choice of post secondary education resulting in a smaller female talent pool for the industry to hire from. As an industry, we collectively need to do a better job of enticing young women into the ICT field by demonstrating how they fit and how their contributions would be valued. We have more opportunity now, by using our current social media (Facebook, Twitter, IM) to reach young women outside of the traditional classroom and show them exciting career options. However, once we attract women, the industry still needs to get better at retaining and promoting them. Unfortunately, not all ICT companies have a good track record in creating a working culture that appeals to or supports technical women, which then results in women leaving technical roles, or even the corporation entirely.
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