High-tech center for women urged – Colo.-based group would attempt to widen females’ role

A broad push is under way to establish a national center based in Colorado aimed at boosting women’s participation in the high-tech business.

By Roger Fillion, Rocky Mountain News

The nonprofit institution would be the first of its kind and is expected to be headquartered at the University of Colorado, with satellite hubs around the nation.

It would perform research and use the findings to push for ways to get more women into the high-tech work force – and more females into top-level tech positions.

The topic was addressed at a Denver conference Friday sponsored by the University of Colorado at Denver. The conference followed a meeting in late February when nearly three dozen representatives from academia, industry, government, foundations and other groups gathered in Boulder to map out a strategy for creating the National Center for Gender and Information Technology.

"The stage we’re at right now is creating a business plan. The next stage after that is securing funding," said Robert Schnabel, associate vice chancellor for academic and campus technology at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Schnabel said Friday he hopes the center will be launched "in some way" by the fall. It isn’t yet clear how many people would be employed or what the center’s money requirements would be. Schnabel said the institution probably would need a "few million" dollars annually in funding to cover operating costs.

The move comes as data underscore women’s minority role in the high-tech field, particularly in top-management posts.

Supporters of the center say it would address the issue of women and technology beginning in kindergarten classrooms and extending up to the role of women in the boardroom.

"Women really need to be part of the design of technology, because technology is such a big part of our future," said Lucinda Sanders, executive in residence at UCD and a participant in the center’s creation.

The idea for a national center was hatched last fall. Officials said Colorado would be a good place for the headquarters given the state’s sizable high-tech economy. CU also was touted, in part, for its interest and research on the issue of women and technology.

Friday’s gathering at UCD brought together representatives from higher education, K-12 schools, industry and elsewhere.

Noting the impact of male influence in the tech business, conference participants pointed out that children often first learn about computers through toys such as video games, including Nintendo’s handheld Gameboy units.

"It’s called a Gameboy. Does that say, ‘Come on girls, you’re really welcome,’ " Marla Williams, chief executive of the Women’s Foundation of Colorado, told the gathering.

Moreover, many of these games contain male-oriented content, further discouraging girls from using the devices, conference participants said.

Recent data, meanwhile, show that while women in the United States represent more than half the population and receive more than half of all bachelor’s degrees, women make up only 9 percent of engineers and 25 percent of workers in the professional information technology work force.

Anecdotal evidence also suggests that girls at a young age are discouraged from pursuing math, science and related fields.

"It begins with a lot of messages that adolescent girls begin to get at that age – questions about, ‘Is it cool to be smart or different,’ " said Peg Port- scheller, executive director of the Colorado Association of School Executives, an umbrella group representing Colorado’s principals, superintendents and school leaders.

http://www.insidedenver.com/drmn/business/article/0,1299,DRMN_4_1883357,00.html