Supporting trends and statistics
A continual decline in women's participation levels in the ICT industry has been a key driver for for establishing the Victorian ICT for Women network. This following snapshot of trends and statistics highlights some of the issues the network aims to address.
Employment
During the period 2001 to 2004 women's participation in the ICT industry has declined by 7.6 per cent, while the industry as a whole has grown.
Statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that in 2001 23.6 per cent of employees in the ICT industry were women. In 2003 /2004 the percentage of female employees had fallen to 16 per cent.
This 16 per cent of females employed in the ICT industry represents only 1 per cent of total employed women in the population.
ICT Education
A survey of Year 12 students, conducted by Multimedia Victoria in 2004 revealed that only 3 per cent of the girls surveyed showed a strong interest in pursuing ICT as a career.
During the period 1996 to 2003 the percentage of women enrolled in IT courses has declined by 13.4 per cent. In 1996 the percentage of women enrolled in IT courses was 36 per cent, falling to 30 per cent in 2001 and declining even further to 22.6 per cent in 2003. (Source: www.dcita.gov.au).
