GWOG

From The Sydney Morning Herald:

In the sea of blokey middle-aged males who typically dominate the ranks of Australian technology companies, a small group of enterprising women have built multi-million dollar IT businesses – and they’re hell bent on turning the gender tides.

But the road to riches wasn’t without its speed bumps – a consequence of an industry in which males account for over 82 per cent of all employees. At management level, the silicon ceiling has been even harder for women to break through.

In her 15 years as a business manager, including seven at the helm of software companies, Liesl Capper says she has been criticised by a venture capitalist for having kids while running an IT business, fired by a manager to make way for his golf buddies and repeatedly antagonised by male colleagues after rejecting their unwelcome advances.

Conversely, Danielle Lehrer, who has built two successful technology companies since 1998 and is about to launch her third, said that although she has always worked for herself, being a woman has mostly proved advantageous.

“I find being female in the IT industry gives you an edge – you’re a face that stands out in the crowd, and there’s nothing wrong with that,” Lehrer said.

Capper and Lehrer, both based in Sydney, are among six Australian female recipients of the “IT’s Million $ Babes” award ( http://www.itmillion.com/), which organiser Sonja Bernhardt said was created to recognise the achievements of female IT industry players and help people imagine what they can do with a career in technology.