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Female IT professionals have struck a series of sexy poses from movies like American Beauty and Basic Instinct to create a provocative calendar - aimed at getting more women into computing. The Screen Goddess IT Calendar – described as ‘much more than just a calendar’ – has been unveiled to crush the perception that only male geeks can choose a career in technology. It features 12 enticing women from real-world IT, software or hardware –“goddesses” of the computer screen, who are mimicking their big screen counterparts. Biographies reveal the IT spec of each model, so in March, readers learn about Sharon, services manager at Personal Broadband Australia, whose bikini-clad pose is in the same style as Ursula Andrews from James Bond movie Dr No. A diverse range of models was selected, to include women at all IT levels from student to director, with those featured said to hail from Australia, Finland, South Africa and Sri Lanka. According to Sonja Bernhardt, founder of the project, who herself features on the calendar’s cover; every woman on display is an “intelligent thinking person” who is comfortably confident and proud to support ICT. She made the statement to head off media critics who may suggest she has undermined her lifelong cause of involving more women in ICT careers by depicting them solely as “sex objects.” “Remember the bottom line of this initiative is to raise much needed funds to run more intervention projects and programs to have a sustained impact on attracting retaining and promoting women into technology careers. “The facts are that to be a commercial success the calendar has to be visible, attractive, and popular - or it will raise neither awareness nor the money to invest in projects to encourage women into technology careers,” she said. Reflecting on her intentions to Australia’s The Age, Ms Bernhardt, founder of Women in Technology (WIT) Queensland, added:" Five years ago, women made up 25 per cent of the IT industry worldwide and now it's down to 16 per cent. "The method in the madness is to get to a broader audience so that people can see that it's not nerds in the IT industry. They are full bodied, fully intelligent, fully socialised women who absolutely love what they do.” Each month a Screen Goddess points to a significant date in technology history, covering leading technology women such as Ada Lovelace, Grace Hopper, Hedy Lamarr and Anita Borg, among others. The calendar can be bought online by visiting www.itgoddess.info, with discounts available for buyers who checkout before the calendar’s official launch in August. All profits will be distributed to industry groups, like WIT, which help support role models, career events, mentoring activities and other projects that raise female involvement in ICT workplaces. Jul 11, 2006 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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