Fewer women involved in IT workforce than 20 years ago
Mar 25, 2016, 6:45 AM
(Stocksnap Photo)
(Stocksnap Photo)
PHOENIX — There are less women involved in the information technology workforce today than 20 years ago, according to a dean from the University of Phoenix.
Kirsten Hoyt, academic dean for the university’s College of Information and Technology, said the number of women in technology has dropped more than 10 percent since 1996.
“In 1996, women made up 37 percent of the IT workforce, but in 2010, that number dropped to 25 percent,” she said.
Between 2000 and 2008, Hoyt said there was also a 79 percent decline in the number of undergraduate women in computer science.
Hoyt said officials are still scratching their heads over why the decline in technology interest has been so great.
“You’ll see a lot of initiatives by a lot of different companies to try to address the shortage of women in the workplace especially in this field,” she said.
There are projected to be 1.4 million vacant computer science jobs by 2020, but only 400,000 students will be trained to take those jobs.
