The NCWIT Scorecard, from the National Center for Women in Technology, is intended as a barometer for women's participation in IT, an educational resource, a national conversation piece, and an impetus for change. The latest report finds:

• Girls comprise fewer than 15 percent of all AP computer science exam-takers - the lowest representation of any AP discipline.
• Between 1983 and 2006, the share of computer science bachelor's degrees awarded to women dropped from 36 to 21 percent.
• Women hold more than half of professional positions overall, but fewer than 22 percent of software engineering positions.
• Within the top Fortune 500 IT companies, fewer than five percent of Chief Technical Officers are women.

Alarmed by these figures, the report authors observe:

The technical design process is a creative one, and hence it benefits greatly from the diversity of thought that comes when men and women are both at the design table. Because so few women are inventing the technology upon which our society increasingly depends, we have no idea the types of problems they would solve or products they would conceive. From a workforce perspective, women's lack of participation in the IT workforce is leaving the computing professions with a shrinking pool of qualified professionals.

Divided into data on Education and the Workforce, the report includes sections on K-12 Education with a Case Study titled The Role of Encouragement, Post -secondary education with a case study titled Compelling Education and Introductory Courses, and a trend report titled Life Doesn't Happen in Pipelines.

Working with the Girl Scouts and Puget Sound Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology, NCWIT has also published the Guide to Promising Practices in Informal Information Technology Education for Girls, with six promising practices accompanied by key strategies and tips.

Sources: NCWIT, NCWIT Scorecard and Guide to Promising Practices in Informal Information Technology Education for Girls