Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) and the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) said on Thursday that they are now taking applications for "mentee" positions in their Women's TechConnect Initiative.
The year-long program matches Women in Technology award winners with less experienced women to "better equip mentees to overcome workplace challenges, while helping them rise through the cable ranks until they themselves become the leaders and innovators."
WICT Chief of Staff Parthavi Das noted in the release that data gathered by WICT indicates that only 21 percent of technology management positions in the cable industry are held by women, despite the fact that they comprise 43 percent of the full-time workforce.
Das added she hopes the program will "provide [mentees] with a critical support system of peers and mentors they can tap into as they continue to move upward in the industry."
The initiative will be formally launched in October at the WICT Tech It Out event during the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo in Atlanta. The mentees will receive a full year of "counsel, support and relationship-building resources" and will then graduate during the 2014 WICT Leadership Conference in New York.
The launch of this program comes at a fortuitous time for women in the cable industry. Just yesterday, Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) promoted Cathy Avgiris to CFO of its cable division, starting in July. Avgiris had formerly been CFO and GM of data and communications services at the company.
Comcast has also been making an effort to hire more women as field technicians in New England. It announced in January that it was partnering with Vermont Works for Women to create a six-week program offering training in physical conditioning, installment, customer service and equipment use.
For more:
- see the release
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