Digital Women: Expanding The Role of Women in America's High Tech Work Force
Women in Technology International
Austin, Texas, March 1998
Boston, Massachusetts, October 1998

I am delighted to be here today among women leaders in science and technology. I want to discuss with you a critical competitiveness challenge for our nation. As we enter the 21st century, it is imperative that we focus on expanding women’s leadership role in science and technology, especially in shaping the digital economy.

Technology is driving an extraordinary period of economic growth in the United States. We have the lowest unemployment rate in 28 years, the lowest inflation in 32 years, the lowest welfare rolls in 29 years, and we’ve balanced the Federal budget for the first time in 20 years. And we’ve created 16 million new jobs in the last 5 years, with the majority of them paying above average wages.

	“Technology is driving an extraordinary period of economic growth in the United States.”

This strong economic performance is a direct result of our investments in science and technology. Leading economists now identify technical progress as a major, if not the single most important, factor in sustained economic growth, accounting for as much as one half of U.S. economic growth in the past 50 years. And, information technology (IT) is our most important enabling technology.

Investments in IT now represent over 45 percent of all business equipment investment. In 1994, three million people used the Internet. By the end of 1997, more than 100 million people were surfing the web, with another 100 million expected to log-on this year. And, by 2002, the Internet may be used for more than $300 billion worth of commerce among businesses.

A Commerce Department analysis shows that, in the past five years, information technologies have been responsible for more than one-quarter of real economic growth. In a recent university lecture, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan specifically pointed to the accelerating expansion of computer and telecommunications technologies as a driving force that should appreciably raise our standard of living in the 21st century.

The IT revolution is driving a sharp increase in the demand for workers who can create, apply, and use information technologies. This demand, coupled with low unemployment rates, has created a very tight IT labor market at best, a skills shortage at worst, and mounting reports of employers having trouble recruiting and retaining enough workers with the skills in demand. I am sure many employers represented here today are feeling the pinch.

The high rate of job growth is expected to continue. How many people might we need? We at Commerce did a report—America’s New Deficit--combining the categories of computer engineers and scientists, systems analysts, and computer programmers. We projected that the United States will require 1.3 million new, highly skilled IT workers between 1996 and 2006.

This is a happy problem: preparing American workers to fill 1.3 million jobs that pay 64 percent more than the average private sector wage. That’s a problem many countries wish they had. Nevertheless, it is a serious challenge, and one we cannot fail to answer. If we cannot meet our IT skill needs, our competitiveness could suffer as our firms miss opportunities for innovation, new business, and productivity improvements. And many Americans would lose career opportunities.

The private sector brought the IT work force challenge to the attention of the White House, and looked to the government for some help. The Commerce Department was assigned to work closely with the business community in developing strategies to meet the challenge.

Our first step was co-sponsoring the Information Technology Work Force Convocation held in Berkeley, California this past January. The idea behind the conference was to bring different parties to the table and begin a dialogue.

The Berkeley Convocation marked the culmination of months of dialogue among stakeholder groups. A rich flow of insights and ideas emerged from discussions focused on 6 areas of challenge:

• Basic Math and Science Competencies

• Image of the IT Profession

• Groups Under-represented in the IT Work Force

• Upgrading the Skills of the Current IT Work Force

• How Industry and Academia Respond to Each Others' Needs

• Software Productivity and Quality

At the conference, Secretary Daley announced that the Commerce Department would sponsor a series of town meetings so we could hear about the IT work force situation in different parts of the country. So far, we've been to Montgomery County, Maryland; Mississippi; Brooklyn and the Hudson Valley in New York; Nebraska; Chicago; and Seattle. We are on our way to Phoenix in December.

Commerce has launched an effort based on the National Medal of Technology--the country's highest award for technological achievement--with the aim of raising student interest in technical careers. We’re going to feature some of these medalists in a series of Tech Talks held around the country, where they will meet with children and families. Last but not least, Commerce has established the go4it! Web site, (www.go4it.gov). Stakeholders across the country are forming partnerships and pursuing creative solutions to expanding IT skills in their region. But, until now, no one resource for all this valuable information and experience existed. Now we've got it in one place--a dedicated web site on the Internet.

Among the major themes emerging from our work over the past year is the need to encourage and prepare more women to enter the IT field. Women just aren’t getting into science and technology jobs in adequate numbers, and this is a particular problem in IT. For example, only 28 percent of computer systems analysts and scientists are women, and only 31 percent of computer programmers are women. It is even worse in engineering, where women make up only 9 percent of the work force.

The private for-profit sector is the least likely sector of employment for women scientists and engineers. Women represent only 18 percent of the scientists and engineers in private industry, meaning many women—even the technically-trained—are not moving into the growth industries and lucrative technical fields.

	“women executives comprise about two percent of women working in technology companies.”

That’s a problem because the private sector’s technical work force is not only a springboard for high-tech executives, but also for new high-tech entrepreneurial firms. Many of our high-tech start-ups were founded by individuals who spun-out of larger companies. But the dearth of women in this arena means few reach the top as executives or owners. A recent study by the International Network of Women in Technology found that women executives comprise about two percent of women working in technology companies.

One of the most significant reasons why women aren’t in the technical work force in sufficient numbers has little to do with gender. Instead, it has a lot to do with education.

Women earn only 17 percent of bachelor-level engineering degrees--a field closely associated with technology--even though women who work in engineering earn the highest median salary for women in the scientific and engineering work force.

Women earn only 22 percent of the bachelor-level computer and information science degrees awarded by U.S. academic institutions. It’s even worse in computer engineering, where women earn only 13 percent of bachelor’s degrees. Men are three times more like to choose computer science as a field of study than women.

	“There is much work to do and many barriers to overcome if women are to fully participate in creating and running the digital economy of the 21st century.”

At the high-school level, there are now only small differences in the participation of males and females in high-school science and mathematics courses. But, too often by high school, girls have already opted out of pursuing a science or engineering career--or a career in IT. For example, a new study by the American Association of University Women’s Educational Foundation reported that 25 percent of girls in high school take a computer science course, while 30 percent of the boys do. Only 2 percent of the girls take computer applications courses, while 6 percent of the boys do.

There is much work to do and many barriers to overcome if women are to fully participate in creating and running the digital economy of the 21st century.

It should come as no surprise that the image of the IT profession is not attractive to many young women. We asked a group of students in the 6th and 9th grades to draw pictures of an IT worker. Prevalent among the images were bow ties and bald heads, pocket protectors and short pants, and nearly all of the IT workers portrayed wore glasses. Image is an important attribute of the profession because it translates into the question, "Can I imagine myself in that role?" And, of the 160 pictures of IT workers submitted by the students, only 16 of them portrayed women.

Women may experience less encouragement to enter science and technology fields due to a lack of role models in the technical professions in school, at home, in post-secondary education, in the work force, and among high-tech business owners and executives. Based on a family's work history and on parental aspirations for children, technical careers may not be considered an option for young women.

Even when young women pursue technical education, learning styles can constitute a barrier for them. Many women demonstrate different learning styles which may not be accommodated in the high-school-level gatekeeping mathematics and science courses, or in higher education, frustrating girls’ and women’s efforts to acquire an education in science or technology.

Women have fewer and less developed networks than men in school, the business community and in the technical fields. This may contribute to women's sense of isolation on technical school campuses, and difficulty in climbing the corporate ladder.

And employers may perceive women job candidates as potentially less dedicated to the job due to their obligations to children and family. This includes a perception that women are less available for the overtime, night, and weekend work required in a highly competitive IT environment.

No nation can win the global competition for jobs and growth in our technology-based economy unless it fully utilizes all of its human capital. And women cannot succeed in the 21st century economy unless they conquer science and technology. So what can we do to increase the number of women working in these technical fields?

First, teachers and guidance counselors must have the information and training needed to encourage girls' and women's interest in IT and other technical disciplines. What are the careers? What do they pay? How do you train for them?

Parents need to be informed as well. Our research shows teachers, counselors, and especially parents exert a profound influence on a student's choice of career.

	“No nation can win the global competition for jobs and growth in our technology-based economy unless it fully utilizes all of its human capital. And women cannot succeed in the 21st century economy unless they conquer science and technology.”

A student's own interest and skills also play a large role in career choice. Early introduction and continuing exposure to information technology for girls would cultivate their interest, help influence career choices, and provide early skill development toward that end. Women would benefit from having greater numbers of IT and technical mentors and role models from which to draw inspiration and guidance. Right here in this room are many potential role models and mentors, and I urge you to explore the possibility of becoming one.

Young women need incentives--market pull--to encourage their pursuit of technical careers, and businesses can send one of the strongest signals. High-tech companies should form linkages--R&D, internship opportunities, and recruitment--at women's colleges, and reach out to women's groups on campus, and women's professional and technical societies. And companies should look in their own backyards. Identify incumbent women employees with an interest in advancement in high-tech and help them achieve those goals.

In closing, unfortunately, the issue of women's under-representation in technology is not new. While today, women earn one out of 6 bachelor-level engineering degrees, 10 years ago they earned one out of 7. That's progress, but not enough.

To increase women's participation in technology, we must address a complex set of issues in both the education and corporate arena. In the education pipeline, we must work to motivate more young girls in K-12 to consider careers in technology as possibilities for them; and ensure that they have the encouragement, support, and mentoring that will help see them through their undergraduate and graduate-level studies. Quality math and science teachers will help create positive cultural images for women to aspire to.

In the corporate world, we must encourage employers to abandon traditional perceptions of women's ability to work in fast-paced technical fields, and build new professional and business networks that will help women succeed in these environments.

We now have a golden opportunity to make progress. Our economy is growing, and we've created millions of new high-wage jobs. Unemployment is low and labor markets are tightening up. These are the very conditions that can draw more women into high-wage technology jobs, and boost them up the corporate ladder. Let me encourage you to reach out and help pull someone along.

Thank you.