The European Commission has launched a campaign to find female role models in the technology sector, after a new survey found only one in five ICT managers is female.
The EC is concerned about underrepresentation of women across various technology sectors. It found only nine percent of European app developers are female and only 19 percent of ICT managers are women, compared to 45 percent in other service sectors.
Further, the number of female computing graduates is dropping to three percent of the total.
Orange bucked the wider trend in the ICT sector when it promoted Mari-Noëlle Jégo-Laveissière to become its tech chief in January. Orange chairman and CEO Stéphane Richard commented: “I have chosen a young female talent who has demonstrated the breadth of her skills and her managerial capabilities.”
The EC predicts that by attracting more women into technology careers, European GDP could be boosted by up to €9 billion. It said organisations that are more female friendly achieve a 35 percent higher return on equity and deliver a 34 percent better return to shareholders, compared to comparable organisations.
EC Vice-President Neelie Kroes said: “Tech is too important to be left to men alone! Every week I meet more and more inspiring women in tech. ICT is no longer for the geeky few – it is cool, and it is the future!”
The EC is asking women and men to share a video detailing their digital success story at the commission’s “Every Girl Digital” Facebook page.
Kroes explained: “We wanted to provide a platform for women to tell their stories about getting ahead in tech. And there are so many success stories out there – so please share yours and help us to inspire the next generation!”