NETWORK Rail's chief information officer is so concerned about the rapid slide in the number of women entering the UK's IT sector, she has launched a new competition for girls where the company will pay for the winner's first year of university fees.

The competition - Could IT Be You - has been designed by six women in the 500-strong IT team led by Susan Cooklin and aims to show girls what working in IT is about and the career opportunities open to them.

The latest figures from e-skills UK shows the proportion of women working in technology roles in the UK has more than halved since the 1980s despite technology becoming an increasingly integral part of people’s everyday lives.

A new survey for Network Rail of 16 to 24-year-old women in the Midlands revealed:

  • 65% of women have not considered a career in IT.
  • 28% had but were not currently working in the industry.
  • Negative stereotypes put eight per cent off pursuing a career, with 43% saying it was a lack of technical skill. A further 39% said it was inadequate career advice or little insight into the industry.
  • 60% believe that a high level of technical expertise in computer programming or code is the most important skill for a successful career in IT. Twenty-two per cent thought a degree or college qualification in a technology subject was most important.
  • Only three per cent thought good project management skills were the most important, with only 10% citing good communication skills as the most valuable.

From 2008-12 the percentage of women in IT roles at Network Rail has grown from 26 to 28% but only 20% of those applying for the company’s information management graduate scheme were female.

Ms Cooklin said: "Popular culture has helped create a perception among young women that a career in IT is all about writing code in basement offices - the reality couldn't be further from the truth.

"Could IT Be You aims to break down those myths and help young women realise how the skills and behaviours they already have, such as good communications, problem solving and working creatively are exactly what business leaders are after.

“While there are people in my team who are technical experts with IT-related qualifications, there are just as many whose skills lie in other important areas and do a critical job delivering the IT projects that make our railway run better."

The six women who devised the competition all work in IT project management roles at Network Rail. Only one has a technical subject undergraduate degree - the others studied history, English, psychology and philosophy, and biochemistry and pharmacology.

Three of the women went on to study for the MSc in Project Management, devised by Network Rail in partnership with the University of Warwick and University College London.

Ruth Stevens, a 26-year-old Network Rail IT project manager of Redditch, who studied at Birmingham and Warwick universities and who helped develop the competition, said: "It's not always easy to know at 16 what you want to do for a job when you're in your twenties or even what you might be good at.

“It can all seem so daunting. By sharing my experience through the competition, I want to help open this exciting world up to others, especially young women, who may not realise all the great things they could do.

“I did English at university and now I'm an IT project manager. It's not what you would traditionally expect but technology is central to all our lives, so I really feel as if I'm making a difference."

To enter the competition, girls aged 16 to18 are asked to visit a new website, couldITbu.co.uk to answer five questions and provide a short essay.

The website includes video diaries from the six women who devised the competition who talk about their career path, skills and interests.

Fifty entrants will be invited to a networking day at Network Rail's national centre in Milton Keynes in February, where they will have the opportunity to meet influential business women from various industries and learn valuable skills such as CV writing and interview techniques.

They will be asked to record a minute-long film about their experience of the day. Those who record the top four films will win two weeks’ work experience at Network Rail during the summer of 2014 and continued mentoring, with the best winning all that as well as the first prize of having their first year of university fees paid.