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Thursday 9th February 2012

Monday 2nd August 2010 - Update from Maggie Berry, Managing Director, womenintechnology.co.uk

Holiday time is well and truly upon on us so if you've been away or have some time off coming up, we hope you had/have a relaxing break! There's still a lot going on in the world of women in IT - there are three surveys to complete if you have a spare few minutes including Intellect's 2010 Equal Pay Survey. There are conferences to get booked in your calendar including Women Mean Business in October. We also have a number of interesting (and discounted) training courses that we hope will help you to achieve in your IT careers such as networking courses from Kintish and if you're interested in giving something back, MentorSET urgently need some mentors. All the details are below and, as ever, please get in touch with the relevant contacts directly if you'd like to find out more - thanks so much!

  1. Cosmo Blog Awards 2010

  2. Nishi Agrawal heads out to Malawi with Challenges Worldwide

  3. Intellect Women in IT - 2010 Equal Pay Survey

  4. Women in IT Survey

  5. Lean ICT Adaptation Survey

  6. Conference: 50+ Understanding, engaging and developing your older workforce - 29th September 2010, London

  7. The UKRC National Conference 2010: Women Mean Business - Tuesday 12th October 2010, London

  8. Enterprising Women Event - Wednesday 17th November 2010, Chichester - could you help?

  9. Creativity, Computing and Entrepreneurialism workshops in Stirling, Scotland - September to November 2010

  10. “Leading the Way” – A Cutting Edge Leadership Development Programme for Women in IT

  11. Discounted Networking and LinkedIn Training Courses

  12. The Confident Buyer - Essential IT Commercial Skills Training

  13. Skills for Technology - subsidised training available

  14. Mentors Required for MentorSET

  15. Cyber Security Challenge

  16. Google grant for the European JavaScript Conference


1 - Cosmo Blog Awards 2010
Our blog has now been running for a year, so thanks goes to our loyal readers for coming back and even contributing your own posts! We’ve written about a wide range of topics and we hope you have found them useful, informative, entertaining, or perhaps all three! To fly the womenintechnology flag, we’re nominating our blog for the first ever Cosmopolitan blog awards – and we need your help! If you have a spare two minutes, go to the site, select the ‘gadget and tech’ category and just give a sentence or two about why you like our blog – it’s quick and easy and we would be very grateful. Thanks in advance!


2 - Nishi Agrawal heads out to Malawi with Challenges Worldwide
In our May newsletter, we put out a call for management consultants to work on short term volunteer contracts in Malawi and we're pleased to announce that one of our members, Nishi Agrawal, an experienced programme manager who trained at IBM, is preparing to leave the UK in early August to embark on a three month fully-funded placement in Blantyre, Malawi. Nishi will be a critical component of CBE delivery as she delivers consulting to local businesses while mentoring local apprentices. Nishi will be the eighth volunteer consultant to join the programme which is expected to run until mid-2012, and she will join the three consultants and programme manager who are currently in-country delivering Capacity Building for Enterprise (CBE) - this is a development project funded by the Scottish Government and by providing world class consultancy services to SMEs in Malawi it is intended to build indigenous consultancy capacity and expertise in Malawi in a sustainable way. Challenges Worldwide are looking forward to working with Nishi on this constructive project and if you would like any more information on this please contact Sarah Spence: sarah@challengesworldwide.com or 07884 001 032.


3 - Intellect Women in IT - 2010 Equal Pay Survey
Despite legislative measures to address gender discrimination within the workplace, equal pay remains a thorny issue. According to the Government Equalities Office the gender pay gap for full time work is 16.4%. The coalition government is currently reviewing the Equality Act, whose core provisions will come into force in October this year, with a view to ensuring that it is implemented in an effective and proportionate way. However, it’s still unclear whether the equal pay provisions will be enforced. Before the election, the Liberal  Democrats said they would like to introduce ‘fair pay audits’ for all but the smallest employees, but the Conservatives said they would drop the Act’s equal pay measures altogether. Intellect’s Women in IT Forum aims to work closely with the coalition government to tackle gender discrimination. To this end, they would be grateful if you could take a couple of minutes to complete the 2010 Equal Pay Survey. Your feedback will be most valuable in helping them determine the level of pay gap and produce a comparative report on gender pay within the IT sector. The results of the survey will be published in September. Please note that this survey is anonymous. If you have any questions about this survey of the Women in IT Forum, please contact Theodora.Kalessi@intellectuk.org


4 - Women in IT Survey
Cathrine Magombedze, a final year BSc (Hons) IT student at the University of Derby, is currently working on an Applied Research Project which requires her to send out a questionnaire survey to women who are working in IT. The purpose of the questionnaire is to gather information on why the number of females opting for IT careers is on the decline and the results of this research will bring about recommendations on what strategies could work in encouraging more females to consider IT careers beyond their high school education. Please could you take a moment to go through the attached survey and email completed questionnaires to Cathrine by Friday 13th August 2010: C.Magombedze1@unimail.derby.ac.uk.


5 - Lean ICT Adaptation Survey
Lakshmila Vim is undertaking this research for her Masters in Business Information Technology at Southampton Solent University and she would be grateful if you could spend c10 minutes of your time completing the entire survey. The purpose of the study is to investigate the trends of 'Lean Information Communication Technology' and questions how closely current practice in Lean ICT matches the theory. If you are willing to participate, please complete the questionnaire as honestly, completely and accurately as you can and you should base your responses on normal working practices in your own work environment. All data received will be treated as strictly confidential and the results will not be published in such a way as to allow identification of any of the organisations or individuals who have taken part in the research. Please click here to complete the survey.

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6 - Conference: 50+ Understanding, engaging and developing your older workforce - 29th September 2010, London
At a time when organisations have to do more with the resources they have, the return on talent is more important than ever. This, coupled with external drivers such as the changes to mandatory retirement age legislation, the aging population and the drop in numbers of young people entering the labour market, will fundamentally change the shape and makeup of the workforce. Employers need to re-examine recruitment and retention strategies and consider how to engage with, not just Gen Y, but with the generation of so-called older (50+) workers. Delegates at this conference will hear why employers should ‘rebrand’ older workers and understand the business benefits which they bring. Speakers will examine how to:

  • Meet the real career expectations of older workers
  • Harness the business gains of employing older workers
  • Understand the challenges and opportunities of intergenerational working
  • Manage the increasing caring demands made on this ‘sandwich’ generation

**Special rate for womenintechnology members: £325 + VAT - please quote “WIT Member offer” when booking. Click here for more information.


7 - The UKRC National Conference 2010: Women Mean Business - Tuesday 12th October 2010, London
The UKRC’s Women Mean Business conference is for all organisations and individuals that share the UKRC's commitment to building gender equality in science, engineering and technology (SET). It brings together dynamic keynote speakers who are leaders in their fields and you can join the event to enjoy and learn from presentations and discussion which will focus on the importance of women in the workplace and the value their talent brings to the UK economy. Speakers currently include Kate Silverton, Professor Lord Robert Winston, Kate Bellingham, Aleks Krotoski, Bob Taylor and Julie Meyer. The UKRC is the Government's lead organisation for the provision of advice, services and policy consultation regarding the under-representation of women in science, engineering, technology and the built environment. Conference tickets start from £75 + VAT and more information about the event can be found here.


8 - Enterprising Women Event - Wednesday 17th November 2010, Chichester - could you help?
The University of Chichester is holding an ‘Enterprising Women’ event to inspire and motivate young women to consider the widest range of career possibilities to ensure they reach their full potential. They're aiming to address the large discrepancies in the take-up of higher education opportunities between different social groups, particularly those students from low socio-economic groups. Last year the event was attended by over 150 girls aged 14-16 from local schools and colleges and this year's event will provide the girls with the opportunity to meet successful business women and learn about their progression pathways from school to where they are today. Previous guest speakers have included Helen Pattison, founder of Montezuma’s Chocolate, Andrea Knowles, Head of PR at Butlins and Claire Askew, Deputy Editor of Cosmopolitan. They are currently looking for a successful technologists to attend the event who would be happy to be interviewed by small groups of students on their progression pathway from school to where they are today. The event will also involve a business panel where each group will have the opportunity to ask the panel any questions. The event is taking place from 9.30am to 12.30pm on Wednesday 17th November at the University of Chichester. If you live locally (or further afield but unfortunately they can't cover travel expenses) and would be happy to participate, or would like to find out more, please contact Lesley-Anne Holder, Widening Participation Officer, University of Chichester - 01243 812079 and L.Holder@chi.ac.uk


9 - Creativity, Computing and Entrepreneurialism workshops in Stirling, Scotland - September to November 2010
Girl Geek Scotland is hosting a series of workshops to complement our Speaker Series 2010 on ‘Creativity, Computing and Entrepreneurialism’. The workshops, which are aimed at women who are thinking about starting, or have recently started, a Scottish business, will work around themes that will target what they believe are existing weaknesses in female business culture, namely: negotiation, funding strategies and creativity in business. These workshops are aimed at women with an interest in technology - your background is less important than your enthusiasm and desire to follow a tech/creative project through. A diverse range of people is expected to attend with backgrounds in design, art, computer science, engineering, nursing, photography - the list is endless.You will be required to bring a project with you - at the end of each workshop you should have developed a workable strategy that will allow you to complete this project using new skills and resources gained during the weekend.

  • Creativity in Business: 17th -19th September 2010
  • Funding Strategies: 15th -17th October 2010
  • Negotiation: 19th -21st November 2010

More information can be found here.


10 - “Leading the Way” – A Cutting Edge Leadership Development Programme for Women in IT
The Red Hat Coaching Company have collated the best aspects of their leadership development programmes to create an impactful three-day fast track programme exclusively for womenintechnology members. The sessions incorporate the popular theory of Emotional Intelligence (me), also moves further onto the next levels of Social Intelligence (you) and Systems Intelligence (we) work. What is particularly unique about “Leading the Way” is that they will be bringing all three intelligence attributes together into one programme:

  • WORKSHOP 1: Me - Creating from Self on Saturday 4th September 2010, 9.30am to 4.30pm
  • WORKSHOP 2: You - Creating from Other on Saturday 16th October 2010, 9.30am to 4.30pm
  • WORKSHOP 3: We - Creating from Everything on Saturday 20th November 2010, 9.30am to 4.30pm

Expected outcomes of the programme include recognising your personal leadership strengths and developing capacity to be effective in a wide range of circumstances; identifying self perceived limits thereby moving into an arena of extraordinary performance; acting from conscious choice and intention instead of reacting from triggered states; combining depth with lightness and seeing that complex things can be easy; merging high professionalism with real and authentic humaneness; becoming aware of your impact on others, learning to create your desired impact and beginning to take responsibility for that impact in all aspects of your life; learning how to manage conflict and use it positively and discovering the concept of deep democracy and how to integrate diversity and difference into teams and groups.

Cost is £175 + VAT per workshop or £450 + VAT when booking all three together (which is recommended) For more information about the content of each workshop and booking details please click here.

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11 - Discounted Networking and LinkedIn Training Courses
Kintish, a leading authority in business networking skills training, is delighted to be working in conjunction with womenintechnology.co.uk to help our members become confident and effective networkers by offering a 50% discount on their full range of public webinars and workshops. Topics include:

  • Networking for women only
  • How to become more confident and effective networkers
  • How to follow up in a professional and confident manner
  • LinkedIn beginners
  • LinkedIn advanced

In the current economic climate, there's never been a more important time to become an effective and confident networker. Lack of self confidence is the fundamental reason people who aren’t directly in marketing and selling don’t take risks, or do something different from the norm. Kintish cannot give people self confidence, but what they do is give them tips, techniques and ideas. When they practice and implement them, their audiences find their self confidence builds automatically and business development becomes a natural and integrated part of their day.

To qualify for your 50% discount please quote WIT when booking by calling 0161 773 3727. They also specialise in in-house workshops - email ann@kintish.co.uk or call her on 0161 773 3727 for more information. Please go to www.kintish.co.uk for lots of free and useful information together with details about their workshops.


12 - The Confident Buyer - Essential IT Commercial Skills Training
In the male-dominated world of IT, getting the best deal can seem impossible, particularly when the IT sales team are professionally trained negotiators.  This can put you at a commercial disadvantage. Turnstone Services' one-day courses put you into the driving seat, giving you the commercial skills and confidence to negotiate better deals, save money and reduce risk.  They are offering a 20% discount to all womenintechnology member bookings - please quote 'WIT' when booking.
Wendy Antaw, Head of Information Systems at Land Securities, who has previously attended one of their commercial awareness course, had this to say:

"Turnstone ran a course for our IT managers, aimed at increasing their commercial and contractual skills, to enable them to deal more effectively with our portfolio of IT vendors. I am confident my team is now more commercially skilled. The course was lively with a good blend of theory and practical examples. I fully expect the investment to more than pay off over the year - a small improvement in our approach to our IT vendors realises large improvements."

There are six one-day courses to choose from including IT Commercial Awareness, Negotiation Skills in IT and Successful IT Outsourcing.

To see the full syllabus click here or contact Alex Sandercock on 0207 936 4374 or alex.sandercock@turnstoneservices.com.


13 - Skills for Technology - subsidised training available
Skills for Technology has been set the challenge of providing over 800 specialist qualifications in advanced instrumentation, ICT and electronics. The project, co-financed by SEEDA and the European Social Fund (ESF) aims to give training opportunities to employees of small and medium sized enterprises across the South East region - this includes Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Hampshire (IOW), Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent.

To be able to take part in any of the courses that the Skills for Technology Project offers, you/your company, will need to meet the following criteria:

  • You must reside or work within the SEEDA (South East) Region.
  • You must be employed in the Advanced Instrumentation, ICT and Electronics sectors.
  • Company Criteria - must be in the SEEDA (South East) region; must have less than 249 employees; have a balance sheet of less than £30 million; have an annual turnover of less that £34.9 million and must not have received more than €200,000 of grants or state aides in the last three fiscal years.

The courses available have been optimised and delivered many times to businesses throughout the South East and the commercial value is typically from £500-£1500 per course - courses available are varied and include topics such as:

  • Microsoft Server 2003 - Duration: 3 days
  • City & Guilds 2391-10 Inspection, Testing and Certification of Electrical Installations - Duration: 3 1/2 days
  • Computer Aided Design 01 - Duration: 2 days
  • Linux Operating System - Duration: 3 days
  • Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) 1 - Duration: 2 days

More information can be found here.


14 - Mentors Required for MentorSET
MentorSET is looking for a number of mentors. In particular they are looking for:

  • A Civil Engineer for a student based in the Midlands/ North East
  • Two Environmental Engineers, for mentees who are mid and early career, in the South East
  • A Senior Electronic Engineer for a mentee in Scotland
  • A mentor with business knowledge working in the building sector. Preferably based in the Midlands or the North East
  • IT mentors for mentee in the South East and London

If you would like to become a mentor, please click here. For more details and to register or contact Jan West: manager@mentorset.org.uk

MentorSET is a successful mentoring scheme to help women working in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). They provide independent mentors who understand the challenges faced and who can provide support and advice. They aim to increase the number of women who can maintain their STEM careers and realise their full potential. MentorSET is a UK-based initiative organised by the Women's Engineering Society.


15 - Cyber Security Challenge
The Cyber Security Challenge is a series of national online games and competitions that will test the cyber security abilities of individuals and teams from every walk of life. It is designed to excite and inspire anyone considering a career in the cyber security industry. The Challenge will identify talented individuals capable of becoming part of the UK’s cyber security profession now and in the future. The Challenge will award more than 30 superb prizes including:

  • Places on the Detica Academy
  • Funded or part-funded places for masters-level university security courses
  • Funded security courses provided by SANS Institute.
  • Memberships of trade bodies and professional associations
  • Professional mentoring sessions
  • Time on the CREST penetration test rig
  • Delegate passes to industry conferences
  • An internship at one of the UK’s premier security companies
  • Prizes will be allocated based on individuals’ ambitions and the stage they are at in their career

More information can be found here.


16 - Google grant for the European JavaScript Conference
As part of Google's ongoing commitment to encouraging women to excel in computing and technology, they are offering grants to encourage more female computer scientists to participate in the JSConf 2010 Conference, 25th - 26th September 2010, Berlin, Germany. Deadline for applications is Sunday 29th August 2010 and more information can be found here.


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