Wanted: female IT experts

Barely one in 10 ICT students is female, De Standaard reports today, and the trend is set to continue as a study shows a lack of interest in computing among female students. The findings of the study, by Brussels’ Charles the Great College and telecom firm Telenet, indicate that the reason for this is not because ‘ICT is for boys’, but because women find computer studies too technical or  believe they have enough ICT knowledge as it is. This aversion to ICT translates into low enrolment rates of girls in specialised computer studies in colleges and universities. About 300 women currently follow this academic path in Belgium, or 11% of the total of just under 2,800 students. Agoria, the federation of technology firms, says this is well below the needs of the labour market: there is currently a demand for about 9,300 people with an ICT background.