Eight
investment banks are trying to encourage female university students to pursue
financial IT careers by offering them a 24-hour preview of City life.
The
initiative, Technology Chances – Women in the City, is a joint venture between
graduate careers publisher GTI and the banks, and offers female students the
chance to find out first-hand what a career would be like there.
This
December, 120 second and penultimate year female students from leading
universities in the UK and Ireland will taste working life at two of the eight
sponsoring employers.
Sponsors
include Citigroup, Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs
International, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, RBS plc and UBS AG.
Each
student will participate in business games and activities based on real work
scenarios to give them an insight into the variety of career opportunities
available.
They
will also have the chance to talk to recent graduates and the banks’ graduate
recruitment teams, and to meet senior female role models.
The
event aims to prove to sceptical female students that IT careers can encompass
a wide range of jobs, including solution design and delivery, business
analysis, project and programme management, infrastructure support and vendor
management.
Mark
Blythe, joint managing director of GTI, said: “Despite a severe skills shortage
in the IT industry, women continue to associate IT careers purely with
‘techies’. However, women can bring essential relationship-building, analytical
and communication skills to IT jobs. This initiative aims to redress the
balance and encourage the brightest female graduates into technology in
banking. "
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