For the third year in a row, Microsoft Hong Kong has partnered with Western University Canada’s Ivey Business School and The Women’s Foundation to inspire women to pursue a tech career. The partnership is for GirlSpark, a four-day camp that exposes young women to the wide range of opportunities available in the technology industry.
GirlSpark is aimed at inspiring more young women in Hong Kong to consider a career in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) since men still outnumber women in the subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).
The four-day camp involves a variety of activities including leadership forums, networking opportunities, and career coaching sessions led by innovative leaders in a multitude of industries. Participants in GirlSpark are also provided with an opportunity to solve real-world problems through a business case challenge.
“As a leading case-method business school, we are delighted to produce a custom case on Enterprise Social for this camp,” said Professor Chris WH Chan, Associate Dean of Ivey School Asia, in a press release. “This case places participants in a real-world business situation at Microsoft, for whom they will generate creative and out-of-the-box applications. We are confident that participants’ experience as a Microsoft decision maker will spark productive careers in the technology industry.”
In its third year, GirlSpark has been a huge success. This year, out of the 60 female participants, 72% studied subjects outside of STEM, and in a feedback survey of 40 of this year’s participants, 38 said that they planned to join the ICT industry after graduation. Overall, more than 40% of GirlSpark alumni have attained a job in the ICT industry after graduation.
“There is still a lot of work to be done in solving gender diversity and talent shortage issues in ICT,” said Horace Chow, General Manager of Microsoft Hong Kong, in the same news release. “Microsoft hopes to raise public awareness and will lead the way in solving these issues. This year, we extend the program to secondary school students, hoping to stimulate their interests in IT at their early ages.”