Computer field wide open

Information technology is a huge field. Consider just one aspect of it, the Internet. In the Web-enabled world, there are bright networks and dark spaces and a gender divide.

How might you prepare for a career in this field for your future best job prospects? This column and my next one will address some informative approaches to consider.

According to the most recent Pew Research Center Report (May), 79 percent of all adults use the Internet. Young people (ages 18-29) are the biggest users (95 percent of them), followed by 87 percent of those between 30 and 49, 78 percent in the 50-64 bracket and 42 percent who are 65 and older.

Internet shopping and scouting for products and bargains is proving to be a business highway to the future. During the past five years, technology and Web-based marketing have created a virtual street fair with an endless line of booths. While it is highly unlikely online shopping will replace store fronts, as some in IT recently have predicted, the technology already is driving the way stores do business.

Businesses like customers who come to stores because they do more impulse buying. Handing out coupons online for special in-store discounts for a given day has been a rousing success. Giving discounts in the form of a rebate that requires filling out a form online (perfectly) and a lengthy wait is cost effective and popular with stores, but much less so with customers.

With more than 1 million computer-related jobs expected to be created by 2014 (U.S. Department of Labor), the information technology field represents one of the fastest-growing career opportunities. Data indicate that the positions in most demand include computer software engineers, support specialists, network and systems administrators, data communications analysts, desktop publishers, database administrators, computer systems analysts, medical record and health information technicians, computer and information systems managers, and computer and information scientists and researchers. In particular, there is a growing demand for experts in information security.

Many of the high-paying jobs of today and the future are in the information technology field. According to PayScale.com, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and MONEY research, the median pay for Software Architects with experience today is $119,000, with a top pay level of $162,000. According to projections made two years ago (the most recent data), by 2018 the job openings in this field will have increased by 34 percent.

With all this opportunity, where are the women? Clearly, it is one thing to use the Internet -- as many women use it as men -- but quite another to program software. A recent Center for Women's Business Research study shows that women business owners are on a par with their male peers in using technology in their firms to improve quality, efficiency and profits. But relatively few of these women own IT companies or provide venture capital for the technology transfer of information. And among the IT professionals, women hold only 26 percent of the positions, are outnumbered by men 6 to 1 in leadership positions, and as vice presidents and chief information officers lag behind by about $10,000 in compensation.

And what's with the decision of young women to miss out on the opportunity to land one of these high paying jobs? Earlier data from the National Center for Women and Information Technology showed an 80 percent decline in the number of female first-year college students who chose to major in computer science. Later studies report the same trend. One, from the National Science Foundation, states that in 1985 women constituted 37 percent of the students in computer science classes. Today, they make up 19 percent of the enrollment.

The imbalance is attributed to factors such as the lack of encouragement girls receive from parents to study mathematics and science and, until recently, the fact that K-12 programs did not offer computer science as part of the curriculum. Hopefully, the landscape will change due to new initiatives under way. Women in the IT field are building incentives, scholarships and mentoring programs to engage young women. But more is needed.

During the next seven years, women will account for more than half of the nation's work force. But without skills in math and science, which are the beginning footsteps into the field, it is not possible to be a viable competitor in information technology. For those who wish to prepare for more lucrative salaries, there are also an array of certification programs that take a relatively short period of time to complete. See my next column.

Dorothy Perrin Moore, Ph.D., is professor emerita of business and entrepreneurship at The Citadel.

The Job Coaches are experienced volunteers from the Center for Women's Job Counseling Program. Ask them a question by calling 763-7333 or e-mailing info@c4women.org. If you would like further assistance, make a counseling appointment; a donation of $35 is requested.