More women choose high-tech jobs

The latest issue of the Indiana Business Review reports that more women are choosing high-tech positions, such as engineer, physician and mathematician, over jobs traditionally held by women, such as cashier, librarian or nurse.\nThe IBR is a quarterly research publication of the Indiana Business Research Center, part of the IU Kelley School of Business.\nThere are several reasons why the gap between men and women in high-tech jobs is closing.\n"More women are interested in these fields because there are more jobs available in them today," said Carol Rogers, author of the article and associate director of the IBRC. "The average salary also tends to be a bit higher, and K-12 education is not limiting or pushing away women who are interested in these jobs."\nThough the place of women in high-tech industries has grown in the past three decades, especially since the 1972 Equal Employment Opportunity Act which gave women more recognition while researching at universities, Indiana has not been as quick to grow as other states.\n"Overall, Indiana is proportionally lagging behind the rest of the nation when it comes to women in high-tech jobs," Rogers said. "But there are many organizations trying to change that such as 'Bring Your Daughter to Work Day," and 'Women in High Tech,' which gets girls interested in science in high school."\nGrowth in high-tech industries is expected to increase anywhere from 52 to 100 percent between now and 2010 depending on the field, according to the IBR.\nStill, the role of Hoosier women in that growth is in question.\n"I don't think anyone can deny that girls can grow up to be engineers, mathematicians or NASA pilots," Rogers said. "The question is: do girls really like these fields and are the barriers down low enough for them to enter these fields?"\nAnother area expected to see more output from women is patenting. \n"Many more women are participating in graduate studies and we're seeing much more patent activity from them," said Jennifer Kurtz, a research fellow with the IBRC. "In the past, those opportunities were really only open to men, but now we're seeing the result of women's participation in innovation."\nKurtz encourages women looking to enter the high-tech industry to consider a degree in informatics, biology or chemistry, but says that just about any degree could be used in high tech.\nAn English degree, for instance, could help in the field of linguistics.\n"If it makes sense and the opportunity presents itself, be open to it. You can't run from high tech," Kurtz said. "I talk to my daughters about the future, and they don't expect Prince Charming to come and sweep them off their feet. They expect to make it on their own."\n-- Contact staff writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.