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MarketWatch | Oct. 24, 2011, 12:09 p.m. EDT

BOULDER, Colo., Oct 24, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- A new program designed to radically improve the number of women in technology and computing is creating accelerated results for its participants, according to an announcement today from the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT).

NCWIT Pacesetters is a fast-track program in which executives from universities and corporations commit their organizations to fundamental enhancements in their recruitment and retention of women. With the goal of bringing "net new" women to the computing and technology workforce, the Pacesetters program helps members employ innovative methods to attract previously untapped talent pools of women and retain women who are at risk of leaving. Participants in the program have seen significant increases. For example:

  • The University of Virginia is on track to increase its percentage of female computing graduates from 15% to a historic high of 25%.
  • Google has doubled its number of female engineer interns.
  • The number of women majoring in computer science at the University of California at Santa Cruz is up 40% from two years ago.
  • IBM is working to increase the number of women participating in its career advancement programs.

"The work these organizations have done to increase women's participation is so impressive" said Lucy Sanders, CEO of NCWIT, "and the benefits are clear: an expanded talent pool to fill the growing number of computing-related occupations, and improved technology innovation through a greater diversity of perspectives."

NCWIT Pacesetters organizations include Apple, Inc.; AT&T Corporation; ATLAS Institute; Bank of America; Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Cal Poly San Luis Obispo; Carnegie Mellon University; Georgia Institute of Technology; Google, Inc.; IBM Corporation; Indiana University; Intel Corporation; Microsoft Corporation; Pfizer Inc.; Qualcomm, Inc.; Santa Clara University; University of California Irvine; University of California Santa Cruz; University Of Colorado At Boulder; University of Texas at Austin; University of Virginia; University of Washington; Villanova; and Virginia Tech.

About NCWIT

The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) is a non-profit coalition of more than 300 prominent corporations, academic institutions, government agencies, and non-profits working to increase women's participation in IT and computing. NCWIT helps organizations recruit, retain, and advance women from K-12 and higher education through industry and entrepreneurial careers. NCWIT provides statistics, research, best practices and a national voice for the increased participation of girls and women in IT and computing. Find out more at http://www.ncwit.org .

SOURCE: National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT)

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