Technically, H.S. Girls Have

Plenty of Options

By Marie Elena Giossi

Women are revolutionizing the face of the technology field and future female leaders in information technology are sitting in high school classrooms right now.

Marie Elena Giossi

TIARA GLADE of Bishop Loughlin M.H.S., Brooklyn, won a prize in the raffle at Microsoft’s headquarters.

On Thursday, March 29, 140 young women from Catholic and public high schools around the city visited the Microsoft Corporation’s Manhattan office to participate in DigiGirlz Day, an event to educate and inspire junior and senior high school girls by introducing them to the vast opportunities and career choices available to them in the technology industry.

DigiGirlz has become a company-wide and worldwide program for Microsoft. Last year, the event was held for the first time locally in New Jersey. This year, three DigiGirlz Days were held in the metro area at corporate offices in New Jersey, Long Island and Manhattan.

Nearly 100 juniors and seniors were present from several Catholic high schools in Brooklyn and Queens, including Archbishop Molloy H.S., Briarwood; Bishop Loughlin, Fort Greene; Christ the King, Middle Village; Fontbonne Hall, Bay Ridge; The Mary Louis Academy, Jamaica Estates; St. Edmund Prep, Sheepshead Bay; St. Francis Prep, Fresh Meadows; St. John’s Prep, Astoria; and Stella Maris, Rockaway Beach.

Several teachers served as chaperones for the day, which was also attended by Brother William Clifford, CSC, associate superintendent for Instruction and Educational Technology, and Michael Pizzingrillo, associate superintendent for Instruction, Government Programs and Public Policy for the Brooklyn Diocese.
Business casual was the dress code for the five-hour event, which included interactive technology demonstrations, group activities, a career panel discussion and valuable networking time with peers and a variety of Microsoft employees. 

Susan Hauser, general manager of the corporation’s Customer Advocacy and Licensing group gave the keynote address, “The Changing Face of Technology,” during which she encouraged girls to boldly think out of the box and take chances in their careers.

She used her own life and choices as an example. Growing up, she said she “always had a love of technology.” However, when it came to selecting her career path, she admitted, “I never wanted to take a chance and go into this field right away. It was so out of the box.

“Sometimes you do something you don’t necessarily want to do but it’s something that gets you closer to where you want to be.”

She took a huge risk leaving a five-year career as a special education teacher to sell copier machines. But the risk paid off when she met a man who not only bought three machines from her, but also connected her to her first job in the computer industry. That job ultimately led her to Microsoft over 17 years ago.

She credits her success to “taking that one chance and making sure I was connecting with the right people.”
Young women had their own chance to connect with peers and company employees as they were randomly placed into five groups and then rotated through assorted activity sessions.

Participants put their Internet-surfing skills to the test with an Internet-based scavenger hunt, created by Christine Lee, an account manager for MDAS; they learned about the growing gaming industry and technology that delivers real-time advertisements into top-selling video games across all platforms from Sybil Watson, an account executive from Microsoft’s Massive Network; they explored the Flip 3D file explorer, gadgets and other new features in Windows Vista and were introduced to the ribbon-based menus in Office 2007 by Jane Koh, worker solution specialist; and girls assumed the titles of “technology consultants” as they determined recommendations they could make to their principals to increase their schools’ efficiency and communication. Two recommendations were incorporating more Smart Boards and computer stations into classrooms.

A networking lunch enabled girls to mingle outside of their school and activity groups as did a Bingo activity, for which prizes were awarded. Additional prizes were also presented to the winning teams in the scavenger hunt activity.

In the afternoon, young women attended a Women in Technology career panel comprised of five women of various ages, ethnicities and backgrounds whose careers at Microsoft ranged from a decade to just seven months. Panelists spoke about their backgrounds, career development, the best and most challenging aspects of their jobs and tools for success. They conveyed to girls the value of finding positive mentors, being honest and non-judgmental with themselves, pursuing what they want despite any obstacles, being open to change, and most importantly, speaking up for themselves.

Speaking up among peers and superiors was a skill that Lisa Utzschneider needed to climb the corporate ladder. She challenged herself to speak up at every meeting until the thing she dreaded most became a natural instinct. Today, Utzschneider is a senior director, overseeing 150 employees in account services group for MDAS. Her advice to the teens: “Do one thing that frightens you every day. That’s where growth comes from.”

Teachers Take Risks

Both Sister Philip Kiely, CSJ, computer applications, keyboarding and communications teacher at St. Francis Prep, and Mei Richards, computer, math and Chinese teacher at St. Edmund Prep, have taken risks in their own lives and agreed with that advice.

“They are opening students’ eyes. They can get involved in technology and advertising careers. My students have good dreams but they have to commit themselves to make the dreams come true. I tell my students, ‘Take every chance you can,’” Richards said.

Sarah Gelo, a junior at St. Edmund’s, took the chance to attend DigiGirlz Day because “I think I want to be a journalist but I’m also thinking of environmental studies or even going into the military. I really want to keep my options open.” And her school is helping her to do that. She’s taking desktop publishing and advanced Microsoft Office classes at the Prep next year.

Stella Maris senior Nicole Sillitti will be a freshman at F.I.T. in September and although she hopes to pursue a marketing career in the fashion industry, she knows that once she has an undergraduate degree in marketing, she’ll be able to use it anywhere, even in information technology.

Bishop Loughlin’s digital photography and video teacher Tim McDonough brought six young ladies to the event and didn’t mind being one of the only men present.
“This gives them a chance to see and learn about things they don’t have the opportunity to on an everyday basis,” he said.

Loughlin senior, Melanie Cope, will be majoring in management information systems when she enters Marymount University this fall and was thrilled to be part of DigiGirlz Day.

“This is the field I’m planning on going into. I’m trying to meet people today and maybe turn them into long business friendships.”

When a reporter asked if she’d consider working for Bill Gates one day, Cope’s eyes widened before she responded, “I would love to.”

Women By the Numbers

(Courtesy of the National Center for Women and Information Technology)

• 1,000,000 computer- and information-related jobs are expected to be added to the U.S. workforce by 2014

• 56% of Advanced Placement (AP) test-takers in 2005 were female.

• 52% of Intel Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) finalists in biochemistry in 2004 were female.

• 48% of AP Calculus test-takers in 2005 were female.

• 29% of the 2004 U.S. professional information technology workforce was female.

• 23% of ISEF finalists in mathematics in 2004 were female.

• 15% of AP Computer Science test-takers in 2005 were female

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