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Would you like to have women in your classes but you find that they just don't sign up? Would you like our class to be 50 percent female students? Do you have a few female students but you want more? If you answered yes to any of the above questions this fact sheet is for you.
Step One: Send a Strong Message that You Want Women in Your Classes
You may not know it, but you are already sending a message to women if your class is all male or mostly male. Any women  walking past a class where no one
looks like them will think to themselves "I don't belong here." People like to run in packs, especially girls in middle and high school.
So, what kinds of alternative messages can you send? Well, here are a few for starters:
- We want women/girls in our class
- You can do this, other women have
- Girl geeks are cool
- Our classes can lead to high wage careers
- Employers want women in these jobs
 Step Two: Proactively Recruit Women/Girls to Your Classes
To overcome the negative messages many women and girls receive about pursuing a technology career, you will need to proactively recruit them to your classes. Here are some strategies that have been successful for others. See which ones will work best for you.
- Develop a publicity flyer for your class that features female role models (past students if you have them) and put it up around the school in the computer lab, drivers education class, locker rooms, women's bathrooms, cafeteria, etc. Give a bunch to counselors and to instructors in pipeline courses. For some free clip art and photos of women in technology and trade occupations, see IWITTs's Clipart/Photo Gallery.
- Issue personal invitations to women and girls to attend. Let them know that you think they'd be a good candidate for your class. If they are in high school, suggest that they bring a girlfriend. Getting the first few will be the hardest, but after that you can let other women know that they'll have some company and won't be the only woman. If you don't personally know of any women to invite, ask the business education instructor if you can present to their class or ask to present for a few minutes in classes such as introduction to computers or in homerooms. Also, reach out to the counselors and admissions staff in your school who can identify female candidates for your classes.
Step Three: Hold a Women in Technology Career Orientation
 Do you want to connect women and girls with female role models in technology occupations and give them an opportunity to participate in hands-on labs? We've found the most efficient way to accomplish this is through one large event, a career orientation, fair or expo. You'll accomplish a lot in a short period of time, and save resources by limiting setup of speakers and hands-on labs to a single event. Your role models - who can be difficult to locate since they still comprise a small percentage of the workforce - can convey their insights to large numbers of students at one time.
Our WomenTech Project demonstration sites designed career expos to increase the enrollment of women in their technology programs and to raise career awareness of female participants. Evaluations of the WomenTech Expos indicate that participants reported considering enrolling in technology programs after attending a single event. An ancillary benefit of the expos was that instructors were excited by the enthusiasm of participants and requested that the expo be continued annually.
Step Four: Use the Web to Recruit Women to your Classes
Creating a Women in Technology section of your school's Web site is a 24/7 recruitment tool to both showcase successful women from technology programs in your school and provide female role models in occupational areas in where women are underrepresented. A Women in Technology section also provides a place where your women students use technology while connecting with each other.
Successful women emerging from your technology programs are the key to selling them to the next generation of women students. Featuring successful graduates as role models on your Web site sends a message that you support women in pursuing these fields of study and that others can also succeed. And, it gives your role models recognition for trailblazing in a field where they may not otherwise receive much encouragement.
Step Five: Get Press Coverage for all your Recruitment Activities
Almost every school has its own internal communication vehicles, so whether it's your school's daily newspaper, monthly magazine, or a third-class mailing to students, don't overlook these opportunities as a way to recruit women to your technology programs.
Reporters like to write stories about women working in traditionally male occupations. IWITTS has done many projects around the country, and without fail educational institutions, job training programs and employers have all been able to get free press coverage about their projects to recruit and retain women in these fields. If you follow this strategy, there's no need to waste limited dollars on an expensive ad with only a few lines of content.
For more information and examples of recruitment best practices, please see our WomenTech Project Best Practices CD, which features over 100 pages of strategies for increasing and retaining females in your technology programs and actual examples of how the WomenTech Project implemented these strategies in the community college demonstration sites.
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