News Release September 3, 1998
Contact: Tiffany Capuano, 757-683-3100, [email protected]
Information Technology Field Attracting More Women and Minorities
Old Dominion University
NORFOLK, Va. - While the field of information technology has often been thought of as a male-dominated profession that attracts only "computer nerds," those demographics are changing, according to John Gawne, director of the Information Technology Program (ITPro) at Old Dominion University.
The program, which offers technical retraining and job search assistance to those interested in pursuing careers in information technology, started in July and is already seeing significant numbers of women and minorities enroll. More than 40 percent of the program's first class were female students.
"Typically, technology has been a field that has been more saturated with males over the years. I believe that trend is going to go away," said Gawne.
"During a recession about three years ago, people began to ërecareer' due to downsizing in corporations and the military. Women were already in the work force in great numbers and were significantly affected by downsizing. Salaries for women in the information technology field are leaping forward," he said.
He noted that the ITPro program has enrolled about 30 percent African Americans and those numbers are expected to continue growing.
"More individuals are working toward certification in information technology because they read the newspapers and see that most jobs require some information technology skills. Perhaps more significantly, they are dissatisfied with their current income," he said.
ITPro is being offered in response to the thousands of information technology jobs that go unfilled in the United States. With proper training and certification, information technology professionals came earn up to $50,000 annually without prior experience.
Geared to the working individual, the Old Dominion classes are offered at night and on weekends. Students are in class two evenings a week and alternating Saturdays. The classes begin every six weeks, and are designed for individuals to earn certification.
The program targets degreed and non-degreed students with some technical skills who have the aptitude, motivation and interest to learn information technology. Students can earn certificates as systems engineers, network engineers, network administrators, WebMasters or programmer/analysts, solution developers, systems analysts and Web managers. Students can also earn academic credit toward a degree in information technology at Old Dominion through ITPro classes.
Three classes are currently running, with more to be added as ITPro expands. Classes are now offered in Northern and Southeastern Virginia.
-tjc-
Old Dominion University Office of University Relations Room 100 New Administration Building Norfolk, Virginia 23529-0018 Telephone 757-683-3114 Old Dominion University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution.
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