WOMEN across West Wales are being urged to sweep aside traditional ‘barriers’ and pursue careers in the male-dominated sector ICT sector.

A new network set up in Swansea recently is designed to help women in the region claim a significant proportion of the 17,600 new jobs for IT and telecoms professionals that the sector skills council e-Skills say will be created in Wales over the next five years alone.

At present less than one in five design and development engineers, ICT strategists and planners and software professionals are women.

The new network which aims to tackle this imbalance was formally set up by the EU-funded WAVE project (Women Adding Value to the Economy) at a special event in the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea.

One of the city’s most prominent figures working in ICT, Julie Palmer of the DVLA, told the gathering that there were huge opportunities for well-paid professional careers available for women willing to break into ICT occupations.

Ms Palmer who is IT Business Engagement Manager for the DVLA said: “I don’t consider my role a job for the boys, and working in a non-traditional sector has opened up huge opportunities for me. This network can help women already working in the sector, or women considering a career in ICT, to learn more about the roles available and find out about the support and guidance they can receive.”

The new network builds on the WAVE project’s existing network for Women in Construction. WIC Wales Networks (Women in ICT and Construction) are intended to help women develop careers in these sectors through sharing information, ideas and experiences and through mentoring, which allows more experienced professionals in these occupations to help newcomers. WAVE is also recruiting now for a new Website Development for Business starting in Swansea in November.

Figures from the Chartered Institute of IT show that although girls out-perform boys in Computing and ICT at A level, only 12% of applicants for computer science courses at university are female.

Research from e-skills UK and the British Computer Society shows that women occupy only 16% of the specialist IT roles in the UK. Wales is doing slightly better than the average with 19% of IT specialists being women. WAVE wants to connect and raise the visibility of these women and encourage others to join them for better pay and prospects.

Laura Davies, WAVE Project Co-Director said: “There are major opportunities in this sector for women across Wales. This network is a great opportunity for women to share knowledge of the breadth and benefits of working in ICT and Digital Technology. We often find that women aren’t aware of the financial rewards and potential career progression available to them within ICT. Women may also be working in isolation within the sector and therefore lack confidence so sharing with other women working in this field is immensely valuable.”