Getting IT Together

Abstract

The dearth of women choosing information technology (IT) careers has been identified as a national problem in the United States. Efforts have been made to combat this by educating girls at a young age about technology. Recent research demonstrates that exposure to technology is insufficient to change young girls’ attitudes towards IT careers and that interventions must explicitly tie technology activities to careers. Faculty and staff of a Midwestern university modified an IT summer camp for middle school girls to include career specific programming. The camp deployed the Girls Educating Themselves about Information Technology (GET IT) program to garner interest among middle school girls in IT careers. This article describes the impact of this summer camp and other social influence factors on girls’ interest in pursuing careers in IT, immediately after camp completion and one year in the future.