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Over the next year, the IT sector alone will need to fill 1.1 million jobs, about half of which will go unfilled due to a lack of qualified workers (ITAA 2002). However, research also shows that women will not fill many of these positions, especially women of color.
Many of the women interviewed mentioned the need to be assertive as an essential attribute in determining advancement opportunities and overall success in IT. Women stressed the importance of assertiveness when pursuing the additional training and experience required for advancement into higher positions within the IT sector from entry-level jobs. Along with assertiveness, women need to be resourceful in order to identify training and the experience that enhance opportunities to progress into higher level IT jobs
When minority women do not see other women of color in the IT field, they are less likely to consider IT as a career choice.
Great potential exists for closing the information technology job gap by increasing the number of women working in IT jobs. A significant number of women are underemployed in jobs that provide the opportunity to interface with technology on a daily basis. A campaign needs to contain messages that correct misconceptions and remove barriers, educate women about job and career possibilities in IT, encourage suitable education and training, and present appropriate role models to which women can aspire.