However the question of mentoring would raise a lot more questions. In addition to what Michele has cited above, one drawback I see is that the success of mentoring depends on the flair and resourcefulness of the mentor.

And in the particular case of technology, if the mentor is not excited about being in that area, that can even be a discouragement to someone who otherwise would have done better.

Thanks for the feedback Ric, and for acknowledging your role in your household as the “errand runner”!

But seriously, though mentoring is indeed an approach that many organisations employ, it does have its challenges. In other instances, the approach is to make deliberate efforts to increase female numbers, but that situation can be proned to fail if there is inadequate support.

Thus, I do agree that mentorship is important, and may need to be introduced in the school system – perhaps and at least tertiary and secondary school levels. However, I am also concerned that the self-directedness and drive that women readily possess and demonstrate when they decided to pursue studies in medicine and law, for example, might not be as evident in the tech-related fields, and in my opinion, that still needs to be unlocked…

With changes both in technology and demographics, the business environment and how we do everything have continued to change dramatically. Businesses today want to have oversight of or at least have some degree of greater control over the entire value chain. Online presence is no longer a nice-to-have. Why?

The buying demographics, among many others, have shifted. My 9-year old daughter would analyse a required school piece of art and craft on the tablet; identifying where and which ones are best suited before prompting me to take her along and buy. 10 years ago, that decision process would have been the mother’s entirely. Now the mother is out of the equation, BUT she knows exactly what’s happening. I don’t, just an errand runner.

And that’s where the old-school, monolithic thinking approach of “men-only” would begin to show cracks. Womenfolk bring a different thinking process: broader, composite and non-linear. Those are the attributes that the current and future environments espouse.

But then, that begs the broader question of what this article and predecessors have thrown open. How do we increase women participation in technology and, for that matter, decision making? If the current methodologies are sluggish which ones would be more effective?

In Australia, in order to encourage broader women participation at corporate board level, they have used the approach of mentoring. It has had its successes but has brought forth other hurdles such as financial standing of candidates.

What if the same approach of mentoring was used but instead, employed at college level onwards with on going support?