The U.S. Office of Technology Policy recently estimated that 190,000 information technology jobs are currently vacant. The report estimated that by the year 2005, U.S. businesses will need more than one million new high-tech workers. According to the U.S. Department of Education, women with five or more years of college make only 69 cents for every dollar earned by their male colleagues with the same amount of education. However, the discrepancy diminishes or disappears when women earn eight or more math credits in college.
Women play minor roles in many high-tech occupations.
Additionally, women lead only 5 to 6 percent of major high-tech companies in Silicon Valley. The number of women pursuing science and technology-related careers is decreasing. In 1984, women earned 37 percent of bachelor's degrees in computer science, but by 1995, this number had fallen to 28.4 percent according to the National Center for Education Statistics. In technology classes, stereotypes about appropriate careers for girls, a lack of female role models and the absence of basic career information dampened girls' interest in technology-related careers.