Female scientists are more likely than men to report that they are overlooked or undervalued by their boss, a new report has found. According to the latest 2010 ASSET survey from the Athena Forum, women working in typically male-dominated careers feel disadvantaged, while progress of gender equality is improving, but slow.

IT recruiter FDM has challenged the IT industry to recruit more women by setting a good example of appointing women to its board. According to the company, the most important testament to the company’s belief in female talent is its inclusion of six women on its management board.

Virginja Langbakk, Director of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) and Eva Fabry, Director of the European Centre for Women and Technology (ECWT) met 29 June 2011 in Vilnius, Lithuania to discuss areas of collaboration between the two organizations, in particular, in the collection of data in the area of women and technology and in the upcoming research of the Institute on the Women and the Environment. The directors discussed the importance of an integrated approach regarding gender gaps at the EU level and pointed out the strong interlink between EU policies on gender equality and women empowerment.

The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI) has opened submissions for the 2012 Anita Borg Top Company for Technical Women Award. The award recognizes an organization which has demonstrated measureable results in the recruitment, retention and advancement of technical women at all levels.

More resources are needed to help women succeed in life, it has been suggested. Piya Khanna, founder and executive coach and change consultant at Change to Succeed, said that women should be supported from higher education stages to equipping them with entrepreneurial skills and other skills such as internet and social media, communication and marketing.

Employers can be "quite conservative" when hiring graduates for IT jobs. This is the view of Peter Wood, member of the ISACA conference committee, who said that employers will largely go on candidates with well-established IT qualifications. People applying for IT security jobs, he explained, would need CISA and CISM and CISSP qualifications and possibly a Master of Science degree. However, he added that in the general IT world, "it still tends to be quite specialised".

Young female engineers have been called to enter the annual Young Woman Engineer of the Year Award by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). Each year the prize recognises a young woman who has established herself and exceeded expectations in her professional role, proving her abilities as a high achiever and team player. What's more, the award aims to seek out a new role model for other likeminded young women considering an engineering career, so the candidate must have the charisma and personality to inspire others, the IET says. As well as the prestigious title, the winner will be given a cheque for £1,000 and have the opportunity to attend high profile events and meet some inspirational people working in the industry.

The UK's skills gap in the science, engineering and technology (SET) sectors could be plugged if more young women are encouraged to pursue a career in these industries. This is according to a report by the Smith Institute, which suggests that businesses and government should work harder to attract more future female scientists. One of the ways of doing this, it claims, is to offer more family-friendly policies in order to stop female professionals from leaving the career. Indeed, 70 per cent of women with SET qualifications no longer work in these industries. The report also calls for the industry to work with schools to attract girls to continue SET subjects and show them that these careers can be exciting and rewarding.

Providing positive news for women in technology across the UK, a new survey reveals that there has been a significant increase in the number of women working in IT. A survey by online business marketplace PeoplePerHour.com found that this is particularly the case in the contractor market. 80 per cent of women reportedly work as freelancers, suggesting that women are finding a place in the industry once they have chosen to return to work and juggle childcare responsibilities. According to the poll, there has been a 165 per cent increase in the number of women working in the digital sector, nearly half of which are in design and programming jobs. Ten per cent of women were found to work in database development, while nine per cent work in web development jobs and a further nine per cent in flash programming.

Female technologists and scientists are being called to action by the Science and Technology Facilities Committee (STFC) to lend their first-hand knowledge of the issues surrounding women in technology and science. The committee is seeking to recruit four volunteers to meet twice a year on the Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) Focus Group and discuss the reasons why the career development and retention rate of women in these industries is so poor.