Some weeks ago I mentioned the pros and cons of the international efforts of making more women want to have a career in IT. It's a matter of fact that professions dominated by women often belong to the low wages sector and that several jobs that were largely occupied by male employees in former times (secretaries, teachers) now are badly paid and often have a poor reputation. Microsoft and IBM are now investing into the Indian job market, trying to attract young women for having an IT career. This should not be a too difficult exercise, as women in the so-called third world and in developing countries are way less shy when it comes to math and technical jobs (in contradiction to Western countries). This investment will leave its traces in the Western job market. The more IT gets 'female' in the old world and North America, the less important this sector will be. The more the big players invest into countries like India or China, the more likely get off-shoring measurements.

To get this straight: IT needs women. There's no need for male-dominated geek monoculture. But there's no need for the aforementioned working structures either: neither does IT need a restructuring towards a low-wage sector nor is it good to abolish Western IT by off-shoring to India. It don't have a solution for this. It's true that young people are less and less interested in IT and that they have some good reasons for this. It's good that they get encouraged to give it a try, but I wonder if the touting for IT is without ulterior motives. Supporting young women in India sounds great, but I wonder if well-educated IT pros will want to work for small money in their country all the time. Neither the then following brain drain from developing countries nor the continuing off-shoring will happen without consequences, especially not in the Western world. (Source)