Women can bring fresh winds to the world of ones and zeros and change the field of IT

At the Faculty of Information Technology, Šárka Květoňová is active in teaching and research in the area of project management, economics of information products and strategic management of information systems. Moreover, she has also led the Summer School (F)IT for girls for thirteen years.

A week long course for elementary and secondary school students, where the girls can learn the basics of programming, will be introduced to graphics and photography editing, as well as LEGO robots and chatbots, but will also visit IT companies where they can meet women professionals working in IT. "It is important for young girls to see that information technologies are not just a domain of men and that this can be an interesting and creative occupation for the future," says Šárka Květoňová.

IT fields are among the most popular fields today. According to statistics, however, they also belong among fields with the least balanced ratio of the number of men and women employees. Why do you think that is the case?

There are several causes. For girls who are not seriously interested in computers, this field of study is often hard to delineate, unspecific and rather distant. They cannot picture what they would actually do. There is also the prevalent idea, for example, that mathematics is much more difficult in this field than in other technical or natural science fields. However, this is not actually quite true. In addition, girls are often discouraged by the people around them - parents and sometimes, sadly, even by teachers at primary and secondary schools - and they are told that IT is primarily a men's field. This is a pity and it certainly does not help the girls nor the IT field as such, because it loses the very significant potential girls can bring to IT.

So it is not because girls just "do not have what it takes" to work in IT?

Definitely not, the basic prerequisites are the same for men and women. "The average percentile of female applicants to the Faculty of Information Technology is often even higher than in the case of male applicants. The fact is that girls usually have a "different mode of thinking" than boys. While boys enjoy more computer "surgery" - they like to deal with the inner components of computers or programmes - in practice, women mostly use their other advantages and take part in positions using predominantly soft skills such as project management, quality management and organisational activities, which men working in teams often do not really enjoy. They often have better communication skills, which plays a key role especially in dealing with conflicts and looking for compromises. This is a common practice in companies. However, this certainly does not mean that women are not present in IT "per se". To the contrary, they are often the ones who are better programmers, graphics, analysts, etc.

Currently at FIT BUT, about nine percent of students are women. Is that enough?

This is certainly not enough and still far from what would be satisfactory However, we must bear in mind that this is still a five-fold increase when compared to the period more than ten years ago when we started to host the summer school. If we look at this issue in more general terms, the representation of women in IT fields in the Czech Republic is very poor. We are among the countries with the lowest representation of women in IT in Europe - about seven per cent - and this percentage has not increased significantly in the long term. For this reason, it is necessary, amongst other things, to motivate girls in a suitable manner from young age to enter the IT fields and study them. And also gradually remove all the established stereotypes related to this issue. It is certainly a long-term objective, but it is worth pursuing. I believe that making maximum use of the potential of women in IT will ultimately contribute to a more dramatic development of the field.

Can these numbers be affected by the young generations that have access to technology since birth, regardless of whether they are girls or boys?

That would be a bit like trying to gaze to a crystal ball to learn the future. In schools where IT tends to be a tool for other disciplines, such as economics, social sciences, natural sciences, etc., the number of women sitting behind computers won't probably change that much, i.e. there will be many of them. IT studied at a technical school is about as interesting for most girls as mechanical engineering or electrical engineering. This needs to be changed, which again brings us to the motivation and necessary increase of IT awareness among girls from the elementary school level, when they begin to profile for the future.

In your opinion, what can women bring to the field?

First, we must bear in mind that women form half of the population and this half is also using and will be using computers. To say the very least, it would be unwise for only men to be involved in the process of design, development and implementation of both technical or software components of IT. Women have better communication skills, they are more reliable in meeting deadlines, observing the employer's culture and they are more loyal. They can make teams stick together, which often helps them to achieve better results.

Did you always want to work in IT? What was your journey to this occupation?

My journey was rather complicated. When I was a child, I wanted to devote myself to a number of various activities, areas and professions. I was never focused on one area in particular. I liked numerous different things. So I would say about myself, with a bit of exaggeration, that I am kind of "multidisciplinary-oriented" person. After secondary school, I decided to purse procedural studies and went to the University of Defence in Vyškov. I only got into IT as part of my doctoral studies at FIT, where I focused, amongst other things, on the links between procedural/project management and the Petri net.

Have you ever encountered any doubts or surprised reactions regarding your choice to work in IT as a woman?

I have to admit that I have. However, I would say that it is crucial not to be afraid to show, or rather sell my professional competences, knowledge, skills and experience, and then wait for the well-earned success. I do not take it lightly - largely, it always depends, and it always will depend, on the kind of people around you, your colleagues in particular. Whether they are even willing to accept someone new, let alone a woman, in their own team predominantly consisting of men. And whether they are able to look at her and perceive her without any prejudice.

Your Summer School has the longest history in Czech Republic - the 13th year will take place this year. How many girls completed the programme in the past years? And do you know how many of them actually decided to engage in IT?

Over the 12 years of existence of the Summer School (F)IT, over 350 participants attended, not only from the Czech Republic, but also from Slovakia. The second part of the question is not easy to answer. Several of these great girls started their studies at FIT so we know about them. Some of them help us organise the Summer School, which is probably the best reward for me personally. But whether the other girls enrolled at different universities or whether they are working in IT in a different way - we don't know. In any case, I consider any activity increasing awareness of girls regarding the area of IT to be great from the social point of view, whatever the results are.

What would you tell girls who are considering entering the world of IT and have not yet found courage to do so?

IT is currently one of the fastest developing sectors with a persisting lack of great IT experts. Therefore, an opportunity presents itself for us, girls and women, to change this situation and bring a gust of fresh wind to this "dry" world of ones and zeros and to prove that women belong to IT. Let us overcome all the stereotypes which the current IT world is still facing, and let us show that we can do this!

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Summer school (F)IT for girls takes place from 26 to 30 August 2019. The event is intended primarily for female students from 12 to 19 years of age interested in IT. This year, the participants will be able to programme a LEGO robot, try working with a solder to create their own digital watches, have a go at hacking using a gummy bear, create their own chatbots and blogs, analyse their fingerprints or learn how to edit photos. You can register on the website of the Summer School: http://holky.fit.vutbr.cz/