The energy is high at the Anita Borg Institute. Today is Ada Lovelace Day, and over 1800 bloggers around the world are recognizing women in technology. Tonight, the ABI program team is launching its inaugural “Savvy Geek Chix: Weathering the Economic Storm”, a networking and professional development event for women in tech. Participants will get the opportunity to hear from panelists on strategies to make through the tough economy, a resume workshop, and networking with peers. Savvy Geek Chix is the brainchild of colleagues Kimberly McLeod and Deanna Kosaraju, in an effort to meet the needs of our constituency in this economy.
The economy is tough for many, but the news are not bad everywhere. The Robert Half Technology Hiring Index just reporting that hiring, while down from previous years, is holding up month over month. The mix of skills in demand has shifted: most in demand now are desktop support and network administration.
The other silver lining of the day: computer science enrollment in universities is up for the first time in 6 years, according to the CRA Taulbee Survey data – the proportion of women remains fairly similar, however.