A
pilot scheme designed to get more girls involved in the IT industry is to be
extended to more than 100 schools.
The
Computer Clubs for Girls scheme has been running at five school in the Reading
area and has proved so successful that organisers are extending the scheme in
September.
The
programme, led by E-skills UK and funded by the South East England Development
Agency, gives schoolgirls the opportunity to use creative IT applications and
build their computer skills.
Only
a fifth of the IT workforce is female and the graduate recruitment pool suffers
a similar imbalance, so employers hope the scheme will begin to address this at
a grass roots level.
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The
first girls on the pilot have showcased their work at Microsoft’s UK
headquarters using a range of applications donated by IT employers.