Book tries to inspire girls toward tech careers

“We asked past WIT presidents and winners of our Women of the Year in Technology award recipients to contribute their stories,” said Sandra Coffey Hofmann, president of WIT, CIO-in-Residence at the Advanced Technology Development Center at Georgia Tech and co-editor of the book. “The response was fabulous. Each essay is unique and powerful. This isn’t a one-leadership-path book, but a collection of essays and stories from women who faced challenges and overcame them in their technology careers. Their passion is evident.”

As editor, she found some common themes: self-awareness; courage to take risks and make difficult decisions; integrity and the importance of mentors.

“I know we’ve come a long way. There are more women in the C-suite now than there were 25 years ago, but the statistics are appalling,” she said. “Men are still 2.7 times more likely to hold high-level technology positions than women. We have to reach the next generation and open their eyes to the many career opportunities in technical fields.”

Hofmann grew up watching the birth of the computer age. Her father worked for IBM, but she began her career in teaching.

“Teaching kids with learning disabilities prepared me for the corporate world,” said Hofmann. “It taught me patience and that everyone has a different style of learning.”

Seeing technology’s ability to gather information and reach people, Hofmann later joined IBM and spent 14 years working in application development. The accepting environment there prepared her for leadership.

When she moved to a manufacturing company of 5,000 employees, she was one of five female managers.

“I suddenly realized I was a role model. Women were looking to see how I dressed and behaved. That was when I decided that I had a responsibility to mentor other women,” she said.

The early '90s proved a crossroads for women working in technology fields. The explosion of software development leveled the playing field.

“There was no heavy lifting in software development, and women proved very effective in areas where people interfaced with machines. We’re good at communication and establishing relationships,” said Hofmann.

The Women in Technology organization was formed in 1994, as one of the founding members of the Technology Association of Georgia.

Bonnie Bajorek Daneker, co-editor of “CLIMB,” started with MCI right out of college. Her career progressed along with the telecommunications industry.

She was part of the SunTrust PCR project to standardize all its computer systems. “I was always one of a few women on the team, and the more technical the field, the fewer women were on the landscape,” she said.

Through Women in Technology, she found other like-minded women working in different industries.

“We had similar challenges, and I’ve learned so much from them,” said Daneker. “In editing the stories of these outstanding women, I was quite surprised by their humility and accessibility. There are many talented women in Atlanta, and I’m proud to have them in our community.”

Through its foundation, the WIT organization has always provided free career exploration for girls around ages 13-18 interested in science, technology, engineering or math.

“Technology jobs are projected to grow by 22 percent by 2018, and it’s scary that we don’t have enough people to fill those jobs,” she said. “We’re trying to get the word out that the range of jobs is much broader than young people think. You don’t have to be an engineer to work in technology. You could be in sales, management, communications, education or marketing.

“Young girls see technology as geeky, but we show them that technology is cool and really important. It’s a vital aspect of every business. None of us is giving up our cell phones or GPS systems. We need more people in these fields.”

More than 200 girls have gone through WIT Foundation’s “Girls Get IT” programs. WIT members visit local schools to conduct Career Exploration sessions where they help girls assess their strengths and figure out what they want to be when they grow up.

“One young lady said that she was equally interested in music and technology. She thought she had to choose, but we talked to her about digital recording and other careers. Her response was ‘Wow, I can do both things that I love,’ ” said Daneker.

“Behind the Scenes” takes girls into various industries for a day to see how technology translates in different settings.

“One group saw that technology was the basis for the reservation system at the InterContinental Hotels [Group]. Another got to go in the clean rooms at the nanotechnology lab at Georgia Tech,” said Margot King, WIT Foundation president and founder/vice president of OnSite Resource Solutions, a ZeroChaos company. “They were surprised to find a highly technical group working on sunscreens.”

WIT also places girls in weeklong internships where they are mentored by women established in their careers. The organization is a sponsor for FIRST Robotics, an international competition that starts at the local level. They give high schools grants to help participate in the competition and have seen the participation of young girls increase significantly in recent years.

King knows that women going into science, technology, engineering and math fields will be in demand in the job market. She considers WIT’s programs to be encouragement and educational enrichment for girls.

“The more informed young people are about career choices while they’re still in school and selecting what classes to take, the better,” said King. “That’s why we made such a push to have all these women write their stories and offer their advice. Young people reading this book will see that if these women can do it, they can, too.”