Women account for only 30% of ICT workforce in Singapore
By Valarie Tan, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 03 August 2009 1850 hrs

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SINGAPORE: Women continue to be under-represented in Singapore's Infocomm Technology (ICT) sector.

Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Lui Tuck Yew, said on Monday women accounted for only 32 per cent of the university intake and 41 per cent of the polytechnic intake for IT courses, based on 2007 figures.

Speaking at the APEC Digital Economy Forum for Women, he said the group makes up only a third of the country's infocomm manpower and the figure has not improved in the past decade.

But Mr Lui said Singapore's situation is not unique as the statistics are also consistent with studies in Europe and Asia.

He called on women to move into an ICT career given the fundamental importance that infocomm technology has acquired in the region's digital economies.

In Singapore, the ICT sector registered S$58.1 billion in revenue in 2008 – a 12.4 per cent increase from the previous year.


- CNA/so