Encouraging a New Generation of DigiGirlz
DigiGirlz has given thousands of young women the opportunity to learn about career choices in business and technology.
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| Laura Wallace, General Manager, New York Metro District, Microsoft |
In recent years, fewer young women have been pursuing degrees in information technology (IT). Experts offer many reasons: limited awareness of technology careers, stereotypes about people who work in IT, few women mentors and a lack of encouragement for girls to take science and math courses. This decline has occurred despite the fact that technology continues to have a profound impact on our daily lives — and that many of society’s most exciting innovations are taking place in computing and on the Internet.
Microsoft’s DigiGirlz program aims squarely at changing this trend. Over the past eight years, the program has given thousands of high school girls the opportunity to learn, up close, about the wide range of career choices available in business and technology — and to see the important contributions that women bring to the workplace through their diverse viewpoints, creativity, unique talents and ability to work collaboratively.
At 16 day-long workshops and seven multi-day camps held around the country this year — including four in the New York City area — DigiGirlz participants will get to know women who work at Microsoft, experience cool new Microsoft technology and products, and participate in hands-on computer experiences.
At a recent DigiGirlz workshop in the area, I had the opportunity to talk about the incredibly broad range of technical and nontechnical jobs at Microsoft — from software development to product design and marketing.
I owe my 25-year career in the technology industry, in part, to a mentor who helped expand my horizons. Throughout my school years, I excelled in math, but I wouldn’t have considered a job in the IT industry if it hadn’t been for a professor who encouraged me to take an introductory class in computer science. Captivated by the numeric puzzles of computer algorithms, I earned a degree in mathematics and computer science, and I began my career developing software at IBM before moving into sales and marketing at a variety of IT companies, including Microsoft.
In addition to the rewarding parts of my job — working with talented people, helping customers solve real-world challenges and traveling to interesting places — I’m proud to work for a company committed to attracting talented women to the IT industry and to its own workforce. We do this through college internships, leadership and career development opportunities for employees, generous work/life balance programs, and awareness programs like DigiGirlz.
With as many as 1 million new IT jobs becoming available in the United States over the next six years, the importance of creating a pipeline of talented young women interested in IT careers is greater than ever. Equally important are the contributions that the next generation of DigiGirlz can make by applying their talents and diverse viewpoints to help companies innovate and develop products and services that meet a wide range of customer needs.
Laura Wallace oversees sales, marketing and service delivery to Microsoft’s largest enterprise customers in the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester County, southern Connecticut and northern New Jersey.
