More women landing ICT internships in New Zealand

This year’s Summer of Tech student internship programme has launched a number of students into the IT industry, and a record breaking number of female tertiary students were placed in paid internships with hi-tech companies in Wellington and Auckland.

A record 106 students were placed this year, and 33 of those were female students when in the past this number was a lot lower and male students dominated in this area.

“This is especially of note as the industry level is around 20 percent, so Summer of Tech will now be helping to change that and get more young women into these roles and starting their IT careers,” says John Clegg, executive committee chair, Summer of Tech.

TradeMe and Xero snapped up more than 10 students, and the Department of Internal Affairs, Solnet, Powershop as well as other private companies have offered contracts to four or more students.

In order to prepare the students for the workforce, Summer of Tech held a number of events. This included pitches by hi-tech employers to students, speed interviews and hackfests. The 50 bootcamps were attended by 500 students.

On top of that, high value manufacturing was included in the Wellington-based programme this year and a pilot was launched in Auckland.

Overall, the number of students who landed a paid internship has inceased by 40 percent nationally, and it has been the best year for the programme to date.

Clegg says companies are now using the programme as a strategic partner in the hiring of graduates.

“We’ve been very ambitious by taking the programme into Auckland and also extending it to manufacturers wanting to incorporate technology into their products in the same year. Both things have been successful so this has really paid off,” says Clegg.