WISE (Women in IT and ICT Sharing Experiences) hosted a mentor and networking breakfast on April 2 that was attended by 20 business and education leaders and 35 College of Communication & Information (CCI) students.  CCI has been working on developing our young women as emerging leaders.  The goals of the breakfast were:

• to connect FSU students with female leaders in the community
• to foster networking skills
• to provide career advice
• and to set up mentoring relationships

WISE works to provide women in the college opportunities for professional growth, networking and leadership through partnerships with professional women in local technology/business community. This program provides an environment for students to obtain advice from experienced professionals.

Data shows that IT/Computer Science has a difficult time attracting women and that an unusually large number of  female IT students drop out. Research shows that nearly 75% of future jobs in the United States will require the use of technology, yet women account for only about 20% of working IT professionals.  CCI and WISE have been working to reverse that trend and develop k-12 outreach programs to get more young women into the technology fields.

In the last 3 years, the number of women in the IT and ICT program has increased from 20% to 37% and we are graduating more female students.  WISE has played a large role in this success.

The event was sponsored by WISE with support from the CCI Dean, Larry Dennis and the FSU Provost, Garnett Stokes.  The WISE breakfast occurs every Fall and Spring.  In addition to the breakfast, the group visits local companies; this semester the group spent time with the CEOs of Datamaxx, The Pod Agency, and Onyx Group.   If you are interested in being a member of WISE, please contact the group through its website: wise.cci.fsu.edu