In today’s vastly changing landscape, women should expect to become more and more significant in the always-growing technology field.

Although more women than men are enrolling in college every year, men currently hold the majority of technology-oriented jobs, the most opportunistic job sector.

According to a January 2013 infographic from New Relic, only 25 percent of women currently have information technology jobs. The statistics from a Forbes article published in 2012 are even worse, showing that females hold only 9 percent of U.S. chief information technology officer positions.

It is quite odd to see these statistics when women are receiving 57 percent of all bachelor degrees in the United States, according to She++, a Stanford University conference on women in technology. It is even more bizarre when looking ahead to the future: By 2020, the initiative projects a whopping 1.4 million computer job specialist openings in the United States alone.

Surprisingly, the core reason behind females’ lack of involvement in the tech sector in fact is simple: Many women are simply not interested.

When interviewed by Forbes, Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College, a school dedicated to technology, math and science, gave her input on the topic. She concluded from her research that females are uninterested, lack confidence in their tech skills and believe the tech culture is one they would feel uncomfortable in.

According to an article on The Atlantic, only .4 percent of female college freshmen say they intend to major in computer science. This attitude is the same among females in high school. In another study by She++ in 2012, only 19 percent of students who took the Advanced Placement computer science test were female.

Although the initial reaction of females toward technology is negative, this trend that females have created does not look like it will last long. Technology is everywhere and everyone enrolled in college not only knows how to use it, but also deals with it on a daily basis.

The days of Mad Men’s fictional agency Sterling Cooper, where almost all women were secretaries, are over.

Today, women with tech-oriented backgrounds are demanded in the job market. According to the New Relic infographic, teams with at least one female member are outperforming male-only groups on collective intelligence tests. Also, tech companies with more women assuming management positions are looking at a 34 percent higher return on investment.

With the statistics speaking for themselves, many companies and universities have made it their mission to lure females over to the tech and science side of learning.

Having one of the premier information technology schools in the country, Syracuse University has taken a major role in campaigning for females to try tech-oriented majors.

In December 2010, SU was one of seven universities nationwide to win a $3.4 million grant to recruit women faculty members in science, technology, engineering and math. More female faculty will hopefully enlist more female students into these programs.

In addition to the grant, SU has also partnered with national organizations such as “Sit With Me” and “Women in Science and Engineering (WISE),” which promote tech careers for women.

With programs like these and the demand in the market, more women are bound to be in technology soon enough. But I think we can even look to historical trends to predict the future.

Females were granted both the right to attend higher education and vote after males. Yet in the present day, more females vote and enroll in college at a much higher rate. I would expect to see this trend continue with women in technology.

Bram Berkowitz is a senior advertising and entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at [email protected].

Published on November 14, 2013 at 1:45 am