Conference turris::womannotes-v2

1000.0. "Hosting a Young English Woman" by WMOIS::B_REINKE (if you are a dreamer, come in..) Wed Feb 28 1990 15:36

    This was forwarded to me to enter in the file.
    
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    D I G I T A L *
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    TO: Distribution			DATE:  FEBRUARY 22, 1990
        				FROM:  PAM JOHNSON
        				DEPT:  STORAGE & INFORMATION
    					       MANAGEMENT GROUP
    					NODE:  @MLO
    					TELE:  223-6548
    					
    
    
    
    Hosting a Young English Woman
    ------------------------------
    
    Would you consider welcoming into your home for Saturday, April 
    7th and Sunday, April 8th, a 17 or 18 year old English woman?
    
    Digital was one of the sponsors for a competition in the U.K. as 
    part of a program to attract women into careers in technology. 
    (Attached is the press release)  We gave the first prize -- a trip 
    to the U.S. for the winning team.  It turned out that two teams 
    tied for first place and we have six (6) prize winners.
    
    They will arrive Thursday, April 5th and spend part of the week 
    visiting various Digital facilities -- where we hope to put them 
    in contact with successful women -- as well as spending time 
    sightseeing.
    
    We would like them to have a chance to stay with an American 
    family and to spend a day at an American school.
    
    Ideally, we would like them to stay with a family where the mother 
    works at Digital and there are teenage children they could 
    accompany to school on the following Monday, April 9th.
    
    I'm sending this note to women in Digital that I know, and I would 
    ask you to forward to others.
    
    Please send me mail or call me, or Nancy, on 223-6548, if you are 
    interested in being a host -- even if you don't have children in 
    the 15-18 age group.
    
    If you can't host, but are interested in knowing more about this 
    project, let me know.  We are still very much open to ideas on how 
    we can make this a fun and stimulating trip for the prize winners 
    and also raise some awareness in Digital about the need to be 
    pro-active to attract women into I.T.

    PRESS RELEASE - February 1, 1990
    
    
                             I.T. IS A WINNER
                       IN SCHOOLS VIDEO COMPETITION
    
    The creative talent of over 80 school girls was harnessed today in 
    the drive to beat the UK skills shortage.
    
    The girls, from 14 schools, were national finalists in a video 
    competition run by the industry and DTI-backed "Women into 
    Information Technology" campaign and the BBC.
    
    They reached the finals, held at the Institution of Electrical 
    Engineers in London, through regional heats which attracted more 
    than 80 schools.
    
    Their challenge was for teams of up to seven girls to produce 
    either a five to ten minute drama or documentary addressing the 
    issues of women in information technology (IT), or a 30-60 second 
    television-style advertisement to encourage girls to consider a 
    career in IT.
    
    As well as raising awareness among schools, the competition 
    fostered relationships with local employers who sponsored the 
    regional heats or assisted with the videos.  The advertisements 
    and programs will also be used as promotional material for the WIT 
    campaign and will be featured on the BBC Television's Clean Slate.
    
    In the under 15s section, the winners were Maltby Comprehensive 
    School who produced an advertisement packed with special effects 
    and featuring the message "IT can be a woman's world".  The seven- 
    strong team won a trip to Paris presented by BP Exploration.
    
    Joint first place in the 15-18 category went to Brentwood County 
    High School, with a "Smith and Jones" type advertisement where a 
    woman systems analyst is mistaken for a secretary, and 
    Wolverhampton's Regis School for an advertisement showing a female 
    systems engineer who is patronized by a male VDU operator.  Their 
    prize was a trip to the USA sponsored by Digital.
    
    Said Denise Lewis of Regis School:  "The idea of a career in IT 
    hadn't occurred to me until we started making the video so the 
    whole thing has been very worthwhile."
    
    Marks were awarded for exciting and informative images, research, 
    originality and innovation, teamwork and awareness of wider issues 
    involving women and IT.
    
    Said broadcaster Lesley Judd, who chaired the event,: "The need 
    for women in technology is not just a gender issue; it is 
    something that will effect the future success of our country.
    
    "Men do not have genetic exclusivity to white coats and computers.  
    We have to stop believing what we are told we can't do or we will 
    continue to be restricted in career choices.  You don't need 
    passes in science and maths for a career in technology so the 
    field is wide open if you have the confidence to go for it."
    
    The judging panel included Steve Shirley, this year's president of 
    the British Computer Society and founder of the 120 million FI 
    Group, and Frieda Darling, consultancy director at the National 
    Computing Centre, both of whom have been able to combine highly 
    successful IT careers with having families.
    
    Said Steve: "The quality of work produced by all the youngsters 
    was outstanding.  They are well worth showing on national 
    television."
    
    The competition was part of the build-up to the launch of the WIT 
    campaign on March 1st 1990.  Its purpose is to address the skills 
    shortage by promoting careers in technology among women, 
    particularly school girls and those returning to work after having 
    families.
    
    The WIT Foundation was formed in November 1989 following a 
    feasibility study which identified that the shortage of skilled 
    staff is the most significant obstacle to the more widespread and 
    effective use of IT in the UK.  The situation is getting worse, 
    yet if English girls entered and sustained IT-related careers in 
    the same proportion as American or French girls, there would be no 
    current or prospective shortage of trainees.
    
    WIT will be tackling the problem in a number of ways including 
    improving vocational education and careers advice in schools; 
    enhancing recruitment into trainee IT posts from non-technical 
    students; and returner training programmes.