“It’s a little-known fact that women were the original programmers of ENIAC, the US Government’s first ever computer. But while teenage girls now use computers and the Internet at rates similar to boys, they are five times less likely to consider a technology-related career,” the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said in a news release.

In the past five years there has been a massive push towards increasing girls participation in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education and careers around the globe. So much so that STEM was the focus of last years' Commission on the Status of Women at the UN. As a result of the increased dialogue, a small shift has taken form that is quickly gaining speed and growing exponentially. No longer will there be a career untouched by woman, no longer will it be socially acceptable (any where in the world) for a career to be for men only. Girls in ICT is one of the driving forces behind this change.

The United Nations launched a new web portal focusing on helping girls and women access job opportunities, training, and career advice for those interested in pursuing technology careers. The website – girlsinict.org – is an inspiration for girls and women from around the globe. The designers are focusing on the age range of 11-25 to encourage girls to choose educational resources to align them with the highest potential for a career in the field. The website includes resources such as links to scholarships, internships, ICT contests and awards, tech camps and online networks where they can interact with women working in an industry. The language and tabs are user friendly and the slideshow of women working in the field covers every race, ethnicity, and nationality. The hope is that the currently male-dominated industry will shift towards a more equal gender split by encouraging girls and providing all possible resources to ensure success.

One of the main hurdles is changing the mentality that computer technology jobs are viewed by girls as being unfeminine, too challenging or just plain boring. However, the demand for these jobs worldwide is steadily increasing with not enough qualified individuals to fill the gap in the job market. "The European Union, for example, calculates that in 10 years there will be 700,000 more ICT jobs than there are professionals to fill them. Globally, that shortfall is estimated to be closer to two million."

“Research consistently shows that girls tend to choose careers where they feel they can ‘make a difference’ – healthcare, education, medicine. With this new portal, we’re trying to show them that there’s much more to ICTs than writing computer code,” said ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré.

In order for this portal, mission, and vision at large to take hold and create a sustainable generational change, girls around the globe need to be supported beginning at primary school age to excel in the classroom. (Which also means that all girls must be given their right to attend school in the first place. As well as the right to access the resources to pursue a career of this nature - access to a computer, teacher, internet, classroom...) The truth is that women will not "fall" into these careers, they must be supported and encouraged - and that will require bold cultural changes on behalf of men and women.