By Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk

May 29, 2012 – McDonough, GA – A growing body of research has documented the underrepresentation of women in technical positions in US companies. Women hold 24 percent of technology jobs, yet represent half of the total workforce. This underrepresentation persists even though the demand for technical talent remains high: computer occupations are expected to grow by 32 percent between 2008 and 2018.*

Enter The Metis Movement, an organization created with one goal in mind: to help women in technology SOAR. SOAR stands for strategize, optimize, accelerate and retain, each an important part of this unique and supportive community. This organization is staffed with coaching, training, human resources, recruiting and development experts, giving members access to a wealth of knowledge and experience they can apply to their own career development.

The Metis Movement was founded by Lynn Anderson who has worked in technology positions for many years. She saw firsthand the challenges women in this field often encounter and decided to do something about it by creating the Metis Movement. “I’m so excited to offer a place where women can find the support and coaching they need to advance their careers in technology,” says Anderson

The Metis Movement has two initial focuses, helping women in technology on an individual level throughout their career as well as consulting with businesses that want to recruit, promote and retain women in technology positions. Individual services include: career and life planning, individual coaching, skill development, job placement, training, workshops, assessments, on-line communities and networking events. The Metis Movement can help companies create diversity and women’s programs, consult with them on programs that will encourage women to seek positions of leadership at their company, and deliver targeted development programs specific to that company’s needs. Additional company services include women’s programs creation, guidance on creating diversity initiatives, candidate placement, assessments and training.

“Having been in technology leadership for many years,” says Anderson, “I know the difficulties women face in this environment. We want to promote awareness at companies that women in technical leadership positions will positively impact the bottom-line, as well as coach individual women on how to get the careers they have always wanted.”

To learn more about The Metis Movement, visit their website at metismovement.com

*Senior Technical Women: A Profile of Success, by Caroline Simard, PhD and Shannon K. Gilmartin, PhD. Published by the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology.