Why It Matters •Girlscomprised46%ofAdvancedPlacement(AP)Calculustest-takers,butonly
19%ofAPComputerSciencetest-takers.
•Womenhold56%ofallprofessionaloccupationsintheU.S.workforce,butonly25%ofIToccupations.Only11%ofexecutivesatFortune500techcompaniesarewomen.
• In2009,just18%ofundergraduateComputingandInformationSciencesdegreeswereawardedtowomen;in1985,womenearned37%ofthesedegrees.
•Techcompanieswithmorewomenon theirmanagement teamshavea34%higher return on investment; the presence of women on technical teamsincreasestheircollectiveproblem-solvingabilityandcreativity.
BuIldIng a learnIng CoMMunIty for MeMBer InstItutIonsNCWITconvenesandprovisionsagrowingcoalitionofmorethan300corporations,academicinstitutions,governmentagencies,andnon-profitorganizations,organizedinto Alliances. By collaborating with its member organizations, NCWIT servesas a learning community thatworks toward reformacross the full educationand careerspectrum.
TheK-12Allianceusesitsenormousreachtoimprovetheimageofcomputingandtheteachingoffoundationalcomputingskills.TheAcademicAlliancebringstogetheradiverse rangeof colleges anduniversities to implement institutional change inhigher education. The Workforce Alliance leads NCWIT’s efforts in corporateorganizationalreform.TheEntrepreneurialAllianceworkswithyoungcompaniestoestablishdiversityatthestart.TheAffinityGroupAllianceunitesandcommunicateswith technical women through professional groups. The Social Science AdvisoryBoardprovidesNCWITAllianceswithevaluationandresearchfoundations.
ProvIdIng a ClearInghouse of researCh, data, and statIstICsNCWIT provides a clearinghouse of resources relevant to girls, women, IT, andcomputingthatareeasy-to-useandfree–includingstatistics,researchreports,practices,curriculummaterials,out-of-the-boxtools,posters,workshops,videos,andpodcasts.Weidentifyanddisseminatepracticesproveneffectiveintherecruitment,retention,andadvancementofgirlsandwomeninITandcomputing.Weaggregateandpublishdataandresearchfindingstargetedatspecificaudiences.Wealsoconductprimaryresearchinareaswherethereareknowledgegaps.TheseNCWITresourcesprovidethetoolstoimplementchange,raiseawarenesswithinorganizations,andreachoutto criticalpopulations.
raIsIng a natIonal voICeNCWITservesasanationalvoicefortheincreasedparticipationofgirlsandwomenin IT and computing. NCWIT campaigns support training for school guidancecounselors, policy reform in K-12 computing education, the image of womenin computing, outreach to underrepresented groups, innovative approaches tochange, and increased awareness of diversity and women’s contributions. Ourawardprogramsencouragehighschoolgirlstopursueacomputingcareer,rewardeffectivepost-secondaryrecruitmentandretentionprojects,andshineaspotlightonthesuccessesofentrepreneurialwomen.Together,wecanmakeabiggerdifferencesoonerthanifeachorganizationactedalone.
nCWIt: Who We areNCWIT is the National Center for Women & Information Technology, a 501(c)(3) coalition that develops and amplifies efforts to increase diversity in IT and computing. We believe that inspiring greater diversity in IT will create a larger and more competitive workforce, and will foster the design of technology that is as broad and innovative as the population it serves. Our work focuses on the entire spectrum of K-12 through college education, from the workforce through entrepreneurial careers.
www.ncwit.org • [email protected] • 303.735.6671 • @ncwit
