Updated! Added link to Ch9 interview with Sonya Koptyev
Most people have heard of STEM. Some haven’t heard as much about WIT. But that’s changing.
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Put them together and you have STEMWIT’s
The fact is …
WE NEED MORE OF THEM.
We need more young women to enter the technology arena. In reality we need women with years of experiences in other fields to enter the STEM realm too.
Microsoft and the IAMCP are working together to encourage more STEMWIT’s
Great example from Dec 2015 with Microsoft’s @Sonya Koptyev and the WIT hosts that interviewed her - Golnaz Alibeigi, Soumow Dollon, and Kaitlin McKinnon
- Video – watch and learn a bit more about how Sonya developed her skills
- Tweet – RT this or Click to Tweet from your Twitter account
- Facebook post – Like and Share this
Why Now?
Well, it’s time for a change. Half the world’s population can contribute in ways we haven’t even imagined yet. Women solve problems differently than men. This is a good thing and should be encouraged in the STEM world.
I’ve had great conversations with young women about their goals and aspirations. As a father of a teenage daughter I’ve seen first hand how STEM is almost a foreign land to most girls. I don’t like that and I hope you don’t either.
Women make up roughly half the population of the earth yet they are woefully under-represented in the STEM arenas. There have been and continue to be incredible women scientists. WE NEED MORE OF THEM.
Microsoft and the IAMCP are Involved
As the president of the local IAMCP chapter in Seattle I am fortunate in that I get to see some of the direct impact and efforts that Microsoft is putting forward. Also, the IAMCP International organization is putting their energy into identifying, encouraging and engaging with more Women in Technology.
The IAMCP is the International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners. We are actively encouraging all partners the get involved. Specifically, we are also encouraging women to join their local WIT chapters. We run these from within the IAMCP. More details can be found here and you can be added to the WIT Newsletter here.
Men Are Active Too --- And Should Be
There are men involved with the WIT efforts too. This is as it should be. There are occasionally conflicting messages here, but the main point is that men are still involved in technology and will be involved in the hiring, training, mentoring and career paths of STEMWIT’s. As more and more women enter technology the ratios will shift … as they should. But, guys … get involved with STEMWIT efforts.
Why STEM?
From the US Department of Education …
You can read about The Need, The Goals and The Plan here.
There is a 5 Year Roadmap for STEM and a Women In STEM section.
Bottom Line
We need more STEMWIT’s.
If you know a girl or women – young or old(er) that is interested in Technology encourage them to jump in and get started. The jobs are there. Schools and governments are willing to help. There are organizations like Microsoft and IAMCP stepping up and making it easy. There are countless events and organizations jumping onboard and willing to help. Because they realize that …
Countries that embrace Women in Technology will find that their fortunes will rise and their innovations will grow in leaps and bounds.
Side Note: I’m not ignoring STEAM. That’s the topic of another post here.
Image Credits: Microsoft, IAMCP, US Department of Education
Jeff is an expert in the Enterprise Content Management industry. He brings over 20 years of Channel Sales, Partner Marketing and Alliance expertise to audiences around the world in speaking engagements and via his writing. He has worked for Microsoft, Kodak, and K2. He is currently the consulting with Microsoft and partners to drive Community Engagement and Alliances.
Tweet him @jshuey or connect on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Google+ He is active in the Microsoft Partner Community and is the co-founder and President of the IAMCP Seattle chapter.
He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to the Personal Branding Blog.
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