The South Hills School of Business and Technology in Altoona recently hosted its inaugural ‘Girls in Tech’ event, aiming to encourage more girls to pursue careers in technology. The event featured various activities, including panel discussions, networking opportunities, and hands-on learning sessions.
About 25 girls from central Pennsylvania attended the event, including Alana Sears, who is set to join South Hills Altoona’s software development program next year. Sears mentioned that she was previously the only girl in her tech competitions, which she found intimidating. However, hearing from women working in tech at the event encouraged her.
Alexa Spigelmyer, a technical account manager at VMware, participated in a panel discussion. She emphasized the importance of supporting women in tech, sharing her own experiences as a woman in IT. ‘We’re treated as less than,’ Spigelmyer said. ‘We have to perform at such a high level to be considered acceptable.’
South Hills instructors plan to make ‘Girls in Tech’ an annual event. According to The World Bank, women held only a third of tech jobs in the U.S. in 2023, highlighting the need for initiatives like this.
