Monday 11 Nov 2013

Could IT be a girl from the south west? - Network Rail to pay first year's university fee in new competition to encourage more women into IT

Region & Route:
| Wales & Western: Western
| Wales & Western

Network Rail's chief information officer is so concerned about the rapid slide in the number of women entering the UK's IT sector, she has launched a new competition for girls which will see the company pay the winner's first year of university fees.

The competition – Could IT Be You – has been designed by six women in Network Rail's 500-strong IT team led by group CIO Susan Cooklin, and aims to show girls what working in IT is really about and the career opportunities open to them. The latest figures from e-skills UK shows the proportion of women working in technology roles in the UK has more than halved since the 1980s* despite technology becoming an increasingly integral part of our every-day lives.

A new survey for Network Rail of 16-24 year old women in the south west of Britain revealed:
-71% of women have not considered a career in IT.
- 25% had but were not currently working in the industry.
- Negative stereotypes put 12% off pursuing a career with 40% saying it was a lack of technical skill. A further 44% said it was inadequate career advice or little insight into the industry.
- 58% believe that a high level of technical expertise in computer programming or code is the most important skill for a successful career in IT. 21% thought a degree or college qualification in a technology subject was most important.
- Only 2% thought good project management skills were the most important with only 6% citing good communication skills as the most valuable.

From 2008-12 the percentage of women in IT roles at Network Rail has grown from 26% to 28%, but only 20% of those applying for the company’s information management graduate scheme were female.
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Ms Cooklin said: "Popular culture has helped create a perception amongst young women that a career in IT is all about writing code in basement offices – the reality couldn't be further from the truth. Could IT Be You aims to break down those myths and help young women realise how the skills and behaviours they already have – such as good communications, problem solving and working creatively – are exactly what business leaders are after. While there are people in my team who are technical experts with IT-related qualifications, there are just as many whose skills lie in other important areas and do a critical job delivering the IT projects that make our railway run better."

The six women who devised the competition all work in IT project management roles at Network Rail. Only one has a technical subject undergraduate degree - the others studied History, English, Psychology and Philosophy, and Biochemistry and Pharmacology. Three of the women went on to study for the MSc in Project Management devised by Network Rail in partnership with the University of Warwick and University College London.

Ruth Stevens, a 26 year-old Network Rail IT project manager who helped develop the competition said: "It's not always easy to know at 16 what you want to do for a job when you're in your twenties, or even what you might be good at. It can all seem so daunting. By sharing my experience through the competition, I want to help open this exciting world up to others, especially young women, who may not realise all the great things they could do. I did English at university and now I'm an IT project manager. It's not what you would traditionally expect but technology is central to all our lives, so I really feel as if I'm making a difference."

To enter the competition, girls aged 16-18 years are asked to visit a new website www.couldITbu.co.uk to answer five simple questions and provide a short essay. The website includes inspiring video diaries from the six women who devised the competition who talk about their career path, skills and interests.

Fifty entrants will be invited to a networking day at Network Rail's national centre in Milton Keynes in February. Here they will have the opportunity to meet influential business women from various industries, learn valuable skills such as CV writing and interview techniques. They will be asked to record a minute-long film about their experience of the day. Those who record the top four films will win two weeks work experience at Network Rail during the summer of 2014 and continued mentoring, with the best winning all this as well as the first prize of having their first year of university fees paid.

Notes to editors

*Women working in IT roles statistics from the E-Skills Technology Insights 2012 report

Visit www.couldITbu.co.uk to enter the competition. The competition is open for female UK residents aged 16-18. Closing date is 7th December 2013. You can follow us on Twitter @coulditbu13

The survey for Network Rail was conducted in October 2013 by OnePoll.com with a survey sample of 1000 16-24 year old women across Great Britain.

Susan Cooklin : Biography
Susan Cooklin is the Group CIO at Network Rail where she leads activities that underpin a large and complex technology portfolio focused on reducing the cost of running the railway by 21% by 2014.

Initially studying economics and accountancy, she moved into technology in the financial services sector. Over the last 20 years she has held senior and executive roles in both IT and business operations within FTSE top 20 companies in the UK.

Before joining Network Rail she spent seven years at Barclays Banking Group in a variety of executive roles in technology, change and operations. In September 2011 she was asked to join the board of Leeds Metropolitan University as a Non-Executive director.

In May 2012 Susan was the only European shortlisted for The MIT Sloan CIO Symposium 2012 Award for Innovation Leadership. In July 2012 she was listed as the 9th most influential women in UK IT by Computer Weekly magazine. Susan is based in London, UK.

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