I came across the following article, available for public copying, and in reading it, my thoughts turned to several possibilities that had perhaps not been recognised by the article’s author, or by her employers.  I’ll let you read through it, then post my thoughts.  Please add yours in the comments box.

Ed

Promoting ICT among young women in Europe

By Thaima Samman,
Senior Director/Associate General Counsel, Corporate Affairs, Microsoft
Published Monday, 15 December, 2008

As a professional working in the ICT sector, I am worried by current trends demonstrating the EU is steadily losing its competitiveness in the ICT field to emerging markets such as India and China.

According to a recent study, demand for skilled IT workers is expected to reach 250,000 per year by 2010, but only 180,000 are likely to be available …

Education and investment to leverage interest in the ICT field from future generations are among the most important ways of addressing this need and creating future growth.

Both the public and private sectors are establishing close working partnerships to attract and equip new generations with better skill-sets for a career in ICT. In this regard, careers in science and ICT are traditionally much more open to men, which also raises gender gap issues. Beyond the diversity value, bridging the ICT skills gap is a field where EU countries can make the greatest steps forward thus also meeting future industry needs.

Microsoft, along with other industry leaders is a signatory to the European Commission’s code of good practice for women in ICT. best practices have been implemented.

Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, is of the firm belief that “getting more women into ICT careers would be a force for change and a major boost for this key economic sector in Europe.” The European Commission’s information society and media department’s study on “Best practices for even gender distribution in the 25 member states in the domain of information society” highlights the shortage of women engineers in Europe and finds that the most successful companies tend to focus on diversity, which the study argues is a “must to achieve innovation, creativity, and growth.” But this must only be the beginning.

Acknowledgement by policy makers of growing gaps in ICT is the key to encouraging industry to invest in education. As a leading ICT company, at Microsoft we believe it is our duty to play an active role in bridging the gap.

One of the key priorities of our recent initiatives is to demonstrate that ICT, an area traditionally associated only with men, provides real and exciting career opportunities for women. Supporting innovation, entrepreneurship and technological progress is the way forward and and I am proud that Microsoft has taken a particular interest in the promotion of ICT among young women.

DigiGirlz is a Microsoft initiative providing young women in secondary school with an opportunity to share experiences with Microsoft executives while offering hands-on computer and technology training free of charge for students.

In addition to our involvement in educational programmes, we also are one of the partners of the SciTech Girls programme led by the Women’s Forum, together with l’Oreal, FT Orange and Areva among others. SciTech is designed to enable young women to choose a career in science and technology. Young students are connected with successful women who have chosen an “untraditional” career path, thus showing that beyond the barriers imposed by cultural preconceptions, scientific careers can also be interesting and fulfilling for women.

Years ago, Microsoft created a worldwide competition, ImagineCup, gathering engineers from all over the world to compete on IT/software projects. The 2008 ImagineCup final took place in Paris. With the support of the French Presidency of the European Union, Microsoft, in partnership with the European Schoolnet network, took this opportunity to organize a roundtable discussion with Jan Figel’ European Commissioner with responsibility for Education, Training and Culture, Claudie Haigneré, Astronaut and former member of the French Government in charge of European affairs and Aude de Thuin, President of the Women’s Forum. In an open debate with European officials, journalists, and the European education community, 20 young female finalists presented the many advantages of careers in IT and science to 20 teenagers, providing motivation and mentorship to further develop their skills in the ICT sector.

Last but not least, Microsoft is a lead partner in the Women in Leadership in the Information Society network (WiL), which provides a platform for women from various industries, academics, Governments and NGOs to exchange ideas and best practices in the EU and support each other throughout their careers. As a part of its work programme, WiL launched a mentoring scheme aimed at providing community support and promoting the professional lives of women in ICT on 11 December this year.

To better equip Europe to handle the expected e-skills shortage in the future, public and private partnership investment in our future generations will be vital. Microsoft is a firm believer in the importance of investing in e-skills now by providing young women with a feel for entrepreneurship in the ICT sector from an early age and sustained support throughout their professional lives.

Microsoft is creating an opportunity to trigger a real change in the ICT sector, helping women enter the field and contribute to its much-needed growth to maintain and strengthen Europe’s leadership in the ICT field. By partnering with others around Europe, we can all contribute to creating real social change thereby significantly impacting Europe’s development and future.

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What occurred to me whilst reading this article is that this coming year may yield a unique juxtaposition of events that offers a huge opportunity to remedy the approaching crisis identified by Ms Samman.

We all know that the global economy is in crisis and that Europe is having a particularly tough time due to its unique fiscal structuring of a common currency and mixed regional and national governances.  We also all know that despite protestations to the contrary, eBay is going to lose a large number of web-skilled sellers on top of those that have already exited the platform – some giving up ecommerce completely, others moving to other platforms.

In addition to that, the baby-boomer generation are approaching retirement and due to ageism in the workplace, they are obvious targets for voluntary redundancy or enforced layoffs in tough times.  They too are generally more IT-literate than popular opinion would have us believe.  Randy Smythe’s recent launch of the “Geezer” platform for America’s older citizens is testimony to this recognition.

Today, more than at any time in the past, Bill Gate’s early vision of a PC on every desk and in every home is becoming a reality, and manufacturers are responding to price demand pressures with new products that drop financial entry barriers to computing.  The merging of mobile communications with personal computing is also driving further penetration towards this broad aim.

So here’s a “what if” for you.  There are few corporations in the world that could achieve this, but Microsoft is one of them.

What if Microsoft were to devise a program, an initiative not a piece of software, that targeted the eBay exiles and the ageing baby boomers, intended to build on their existing IT skills, assessing their current abilities and providing an extensible path to higher skills based upon the individuals’ personal preferences for future self-development?

Imagine, a disaffected eBay seller, who is giving up ecommerce but has acquired webpage building skills and a basic level understanding of data structuring, being given access to a selection of training paths based upon those existing abilities, that would move them forward to a higher level IT or ICT proficiency at their own pace, in their own home, with their own targets for achievement and further development and skill deployment?

With regard to the existing Microsoft programs for young women, there appears to be a missing link in the programs.  Would it be feasible for small businesses (the sector most in need of advanced IT and ICT skills, and least able to afford them) to partner with these Microsoft programs and offer apprenticeship placements for the school leavers, assisted by government training funding of the types recently announced by the UK parliament?

Are these thoughts merely utopian ideals, or a practical path to avoiding the massive skills shortages outlined in Ms Samman’s article?  Are they sustainable, and would they be a long term solution, or only a short term one?

Have your say – post your comments and thoughts.

Ed