Club Feature: Women in I.T.

Women in I.T. is a new Green River club that meets every Tuesday from 4-5 p.m. and offers support to female students interested in technology.

With gender roles influencing student’s career choices, there has been a disproportionate amount of male students majoring in information technology programs around the world. Only 23 percent of the students in the Associate of Applied Science Software Development Program identify as female. This club can therefore become an opportunity for more women to explore this major even if they have a passing interest in the subject.

“Our mission is to be a club where women and advocates gather to learn professional skills, connect, and discuss modern issues plaguing women in the workplace,” said Emily Hay, returning Green River student and president of the club.

Kindra Schuller, advisor of the club and an I.T. professor at Green River College believes that a big part of the problem is rooted in the fact that women simply are not well represented enough in the profession.

“I’ve attended some recruitment things for women and STEM programs and one of the biggest things is that most of the images on the brochures and most of the people that go out to the students are men,” Schuller said.

Their own solution to this problem is to encourage students to join this club in order to dispel the misconception that women are incapable of math and science based professions. No matter what gender a student may identify as, Hay and Schuller agree that anyone can do I.T.

For more information, email kschuller@mail.greenriver.edu.