[UbuntuWomen] what makes a company more attractive to techie women?

[Esther Schindler]

The article is live -- thanks for your help!

Making Your IT Department More Attractive to Women
Want more women on your staff? You need to do more than offer family- 
friendly employee benefits. Women at every level of the career ladder  
describe the corporate behavior that can attract them to a  
company—or chase them away.
http://www.cio.com/article/325513

On Mar 4, 2008, at 1:02 PM, Esther Schindler wrote:

> I've been involved in a lot of discussions with IT women that address
> this question, but usually from the periphery. That is, someone will
> post a message about behavior (in, say, a job interview) that's a
> turn-off, making the woman decide that this company is probably not a
> good choice for woman who wants to get ahead, or to just enjoy her  
> job.
>
> But I've been thinking about this, particularly as I continue in the
> series of articles I've been writing about Women in IT. (Which I hope
> you _like_, and don't make me seem like a pest. I don't want to be a
> pest.) I'm planning to write another article, this time with more
> input from IT women (not just CIOs, though I expect I'll get some
> input from them), looking for the attributes/behaviors that a smart
> company can adopt to make itself more attractive to women.
>
> I want to make this largely about POSITIVE things that companies can
> do -- not just the painful anecdotes. Certainly, there will be value
> in mentioning the turn-offs. But it'd be ideal if I could enumerate
> "7 ways to make your company more attractive to IT women" -- the "DO
> THIS" not just "DO NOTs."
>
> For instance, one obvious attraction is flexible work options (which
> obviously appeals to both genders, but certainly is a Plus for women
> with small children).
>
> Anyway -- I'm hereby collecting input. Ideally you can share your
> name, company, and position with me, because I need those to use them
> in the article. Private messages are fine, though I dare say there's
> value to be had by making this a public discussion.
>
> I'm hoping to collect information this week and next week (though I'm
> about to disappear for a few days to the Microsoft MIX conference).
> Then I'll compile and turn into an article that, I hope, may make
> life just a little bit easier for techie women.
>
> Esther Schindler
> (in her devilish disguise as senior online editor, CIO.com)
>
>