Cyber Resources for Women

Women bring essential creativity and passion to developing innovative solutions to problems in our world. Watch the Girls in a Tech World video to learn more.

 
The Cyber Systems Department at UNK is dedicated to tackling IT workforce deficit in Central Nebraska through initiatives to make young people in Central Nebraska more IT-career ready and through strategies designed to increase enrollment, retention, and graduation of students, including women, since women are critically underrepresented at every career stage in IT. According to the National Center for Women & Information Technology, in 2012, women earned 12 percent of computer and information science bachelor’s degrees, down from 37 percent in 1985. Only 25% of the current IT workforce in the United States is female. Further, women are underrepresented at every career stage in the IT field, especially in positions of leadership, where only seven percent of CIOs are women.

The Cyber Systems Department provides

  • Outreach activities for middle and high school students
  • Dedicated informational website materials
  • Professional networking opportunities for current Cyber Systems  students
  • Opportunities for Cyber Systems students to develop their confidence and improve their technical and mentoring abilities
  • Attendance at annual Women in Computing Conferences (RMCWIC and MINKWIC)
  • As a National Center for Women in IT (NCWIT) Academic Alliance member, faculty and students have access to numerous resources including awards, mentoring opportunities, conferences, and more.

The Cyber Systems Department is also developing dual enrollment programs for high school students and working to educate local area middle and high school teachers to teach IT courses.

Education/Teaching sites dedicated to Women in CS/IT

  • College Success for women in STEM
  • Aspirations - Aspirations in Computing is a talent development pipeline initiative of the National Center for Women & IT (NCWIT) designed to increase women's meaningful participation in computing careers by providing encouragement, visibility, community, leadership opportunities, scholarships, and internships to high potential technically inclined young women.
  • Dot Diva - Young women with the power and passion to make a difference. They believe in the potential of computing to build a better world.
  • Girls Who Code - works to inspire, educate, and equip girls with the computing skills to pursue 21st century opportunities. Reshma Saujani, founded Girls Who Code in 2011, to answer the question: "If you give girls technology, how can they change the world?" Successes from this program include girls who have created algorithms to detect cancer and a web site to teach computer skills in 32 languages.

Other sites dedicated to women in CS/IT