The Open University has published a review based on its experience with the UKRC of assisting women in returning to careers in Information, Computing and Technology. The initiative ran in the UK and Ireland between 2005 and 2011as part of a national campaign (RETURN) to address the UK government's concern about women failing to return to SET careers after a break. The report, published in the International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology, focuses in particular on an innovative online course which the two organisations developed and ran, hosted by the Open University.

The United Nations launched a new web portal focusing on helping girls and women access job opportunities, training and career advice in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector. The website girlsinict.org was designed to inspire and help young women between the ages of 11 and 25 prepare for and pursue careers in technology by providing them with useful resources such as links to scholarships, internships, ICT contests and awards, tech camps and online networks where they can interact with other women working in an industry that is largely male-dominated.

The 18 months long global digital literacy campaign launched by ITU and the Philippine-based NGO telecentre.org Foundation the 7 April 2011 has come halfway. The partnershiphas set the goal to train one million unskilled women to use computers and modern information and communication technology (ICT) applications to improve their livelihoods. The new Women’s Digital Literacy Campaign will leverage the combined reach of Telecentres global network of 100,000 centres worldwide and ITU’s 192 Member States and 700 Sector Members to deliver training in ICT use following a "train the trainer" model. Until the end 2012, training courses will be offered in at least 20,000 telecentres in countries around the world, each of which is expected to train at least 50 women - for a total of one million women trained.

The role of women in science has been the focus of attention at an event in India as the government and industry work to provide more opportunities for female scientists. At the 99th Indian Science Congress in Calcutta the theme was about inclusive innovation and prime minister Manmohan Singh used his speech to highlight the vital steps the country needs to take to encourage more women to pursue science careers.

The Systers community was created in 1987 by Anita Borg for the purpose of providing a private community for women to discuss their challenges in the workplace and seek advice from other women in the computing fields. Anita Borg was born January 17, 1949, so it is fitting that Systers start the celebration in 2012 with a Global Meetup. At just over 3,000 women strong, there are Systers in more than 54 countries around the world and include women of all ages in government, industry and academia. There are incredible benefits to women who are members of the group, not just from a professional and educational standpoint, but from a personal level as well.

The 12th Annual Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC) has opened its Call for Participation. The annual conference, a program of the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, is the world’s largest gathering of women in computing. The Grace Hopper Celebration will take place from October 3 – 6, 2012 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland. This year’s theme "Are We There Yet?" recognizes that technology and the culture of technology are continuously evolving but there are also concrete goals we are striving to achieve. Submissions are encouraged that answer the question "Are We There Yet?" The submission deadline is March 16, 2012.

Women find their job and workplace more stressful, making them almost three times more likely to take stress-related absence than men. This is according to UK government figures analysed by Legal & General, which found that between October and December 2010, 31,000 women took sick days for stress, depression or anxiety, accounting for 76 per cent of all stress-related absences.

Each month Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology asks Senior Technical Women to share their stories and what they have learned. This issue’s Senior Technical Woman Profile features Cynthia Srinivas, Engineering Director, NetApp.

If ever there was a stairway to success in this economy, it appears to be a college degree in math, science or technology. Unfortunately, the majority of American high-school students just aren’t interested in taking it. A study released this week by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce found that recent graduates in computer science, mathematics and engineering all had unemployment rates below 9 percent (with the rates dropping below 6 percent among those who had some experience.) Conversely, the rates for graduates in architecture and the arts were 13.9 and 11.1 percent, respectively.

Applications are now being accepted for girls currently in seventh and eighth grade to take part in a free four-week computer science camp at Pacific University this summer. The camp, Girls Gather for Computer Science (G2CS), will take place June 22 through July 17 at the University's Forest Grove campus. It will include hands-on learning activities as well as field trips related to science and technology.