A ccording to the National Girls Collaborative Project, women make up half of the United States’ population but hold only 21% of computer science bachelor’s degrees and 34% of computer science jobs.

To address that disparity, Georgia College & State University’s J. Whitney Bunting College of Business hosted its first Women in Technology Day Friday, Feb. 24.

The goal is to help young women envision a career in a technologically-oriented field. Led by Georgia College’s Women in Technology Club—and faculty advisor Caroline Collier, Women in Technology Day is designed to excite female high school students about technology and introduce educational pathways that could lead to careers in the tech sector. 

“We’re very proud of our GC WIT girls and participating high school students,” Joy Godin, associate professor of management information systems said. “It was inspiring to see so many women excited about technology. Hopefully, the event and future ones will help young women envision themselves in technical careers.” 

Visiting students enjoyed a line-up of conference events geared toward women in technology. They explored virtual reality technology and learned about the GCSU Women in Technology experience firsthand from college peers.

Dr. Paige Rutner, assistant professor of management information systems, helped attendees create a robotic process automation for mimicking human interaction on a web browser.

The aspirant young students also heard from guest speakers Angie Gheesling, ’90, executive director of the Development Authority of Houston County and Meghan Aguilera, ’08, client integration manager for IBM. 

Both women are GCSU graduates and spoke about their experience as business women and professional leaders. In addition to encouraging young women to pursue careers in male-dominated fields, they shared what it’s like to forge a path for other women to follow. 

At the end of their trip, attendees from five schools competed in an enterprise resource planning simulation (ERPsim) to make the most valuable maple syrup company. With the help of GC WIT club members, teams managed their virtual companies over 60 days using real ERP systems.

The Georgia College Early College team of Kayla Harris, Erica Cabiness, Taiylor King, Tamia Miller and Ariel Reeves came out on top—with their company valued at $977,880. 

After winning the competition, they shared their thoughts about how the day allowed them a glimpse of what to expect within the field, and how communication and teamwork are at the heart of any career.