IIG

The presentation will address the critical issues related to why there is an 'alarming gender gap' and a paucity of women's participation in informatics and related fields. It will argue how far the lower representation of women in the IT sector could be attributed to shrinking supply of female computer scientists in the developed (Germany) and developing (India) economies. It will try to analyse why there is a disproportionately smaller number of women in the computer industry and computer education. This is a serious question, because when the IT industry is facing a serious shortage of skilled workers, why is there no adequate representation of women in informatics? The talk points out the need to integrate the two major issues in the IT field, that is: women in IT education and women in the IT labour market. Likewise, it points out the serious gap in the direction of linking human capital requirements of the IT industries and the gender differences in the rate of skill acquisition among the male and female IT professionals. It tries to analyse the factors (personal, organisational, and national environment) that have shaped or impeded women's progress in IT education and vocation.