NewsFactor Network - Tech Jobs - Why Women Leave I.T.

NewsFactor Network - Tech Jobs - Why Women Leave I.T.: "About a decade ago, women's place in the I.T. employment world was about even with their numbers in the workforce at large. In 1996, women comprised 41 percent of I.T. workers. By 2002, however, that figure had dropped to 35 percent, and, according to Armstrong, the downward spiral is gaining momentum."

These numbers are concerning. Unfortunately, the article provides no link to the source of the numbers. I do have a data point though. I was recently involved in the hiring of a new IT person. The job was posted on a popular job web site. The position called for a specific set of job skills. Their were no women in the set that had those skills or came close to those skills. Weird.

The article also does not do a good job of explaining why this might be true. The specifics mentioned (maternity leve and difficulty taking evening training or out of town classes) fall short. The maternity leave issue has always been there so why where the numbers higher 10 years ago? The speed of change might have something to do with it (for a similar length maternity leave, more technology changes), but that doesn't seem like it would have such a drastic impact. Likewise for the evening/out of town training classes.

If true, this is a disturbing trend. In the last 10 years, there has even been more of an emphasis on keeping girls interested in math and technology. I guess the next question is this: Are fewer women going into IT than a decade ago or are the same number going in, but they are leaving the field more?