Victorian schoolgirls get IT jobs spiel

Women from Google, Deloitte, IBM, Oracle and Telstra will address Victorian secondary school girls this week in a bid to attract more females to the IT industry.

Held over two days at Melbourne's Deakin University, the Go Girl Go for IT (GGGIT) conference and expo features a series of presentations and a tradeshow for girls in Years 8 to 11.

It will be opened by Victorian Minister for Women's Affairs Maxine Morand and is expected to attract 1,000 attendees.

Attendees will hear about IT's role in medical research from Monash University, working at an IT start-up from travel site Adioso, and "making the world better" from Federal IT advisor Pia Waugh.

The 2010 event follows one in 2008, which was attended by 2,500 Victorian school girls and their teachers.

According to conference organisers, only 36 percent of students claimed that they had considered IT as a career before the event. Afterwards, 71 percent said they would consider a career in IT.