What would the make-up of the global technology industry be made of had Steve Jobs been a woman? Would there have been more women in IT since he launched the Apple computer in the early 1980s? This is the question being put to leading academics and technologists in this year's Open Thoughts blog, run by the Open University of Catalonia.

Interim IT management jobs can offer women a "level playing field" over some other careers, it has been suggested. According to Diane Morris, director of InterimWomen, the role is well-paid and the gender pay gap is down to more women working in public sector roles compared to men in the finance industry.

Women working in technology jobs during the tough economic climate are being advised to become more innovative and entrepreneurial. To help them embrace entrepreneurship, a London Hopper Colloquium event, hosted by Women in Computing Research and supported by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, will take place next week, featuring a number of successful female technologists telling their stories of success.

Managers must be the ones who are held accountable for making sure they are promoting their female staff at the same rate as their male employees, one expert has said. Companies have been urged to work closely with their managers in order to realise where they might be going wrong in their hiring activities, particularly if they are promoting men faster than women in the career structure.

A gender divide within the technology industry has become a worldwide issue, according to new reports. From India to the US, women in technology are fighting to break the glass ceiling and reach the top of their industry. Despite an increase in the number of women entering technology careers, research suggests that few are making it to the top. Findings by Comprehensive Equity at Ohio State University reveal that female and male faculty members working in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields are paid the same, but the female professors are not as happy as their male colleagues.

Almost 200 young girls from the US were shown the possibilities they could have with science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) careers at a recent event. Held by the Exeter Area General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC) in New Hampshire, the annual Expanding Your Horizons conference hoped to inspire young girls by getting them to take part in workshops and seminars, exploring electrical circuits and programming robots.

There is still time to nominate a company or individual in one of four categories at this year's WISE Awards. The nomination deadline for the awards, which celebrate the work being done to promote science, engineering and construction to girls and young women, will close on June 11th. Of the four categories, the Excellence Award recognises the achievement of women in the early stages of their career, both in promoting the industry to other women and excelling within their role.

Girls and young women have the ''extraordinary opportunity'' to enter IT careers in the coming years as demand for skilled technologists is expected to soar. This is according to Hamadoun Toure, the secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union, the UN agency for the ICT industry, who was highlighting the need for global businesses to encourage young women to study technology degrees and for businesses to recruit more women into IT jobs.

Entertainment Industries Council, Inc. (EIC) is excited to announce that a recent White House event, which featured a panel of trailblazing women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields, is now available for viewing online. At the April 24 event, sponsored by the White House Council on Women and Girls, young women who have studied and worked in STEM fields encouraged girls to follow in their footsteps � or blaze trails of their own. The event also featured the first public screening of ''Girls in STEM'' a short video about girls who participated in the 2012 White House Science Fair.

Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission and Mr. Tatsuo Kawabata, Minister for Internal affairs and Communications, Japan, met in Brussels on 3 May to reaffirm their close partnership in the area of ICT. In particular, they discussed Internet policies, Internet security, cloud computing, Safer Internet for children, Cooperation on ICT R&D, and Healthy Ageing.