While the field of information technology has often been characterized as a male-dominated profession that attracts only “computer nerds,” those demographics are changing, according to John Gawne, director of Old Dominion’s Information Technology Program (IT Pro).

The program, which offers technical retraining and job search assistance to those interested in pursuing careers in information technology, started in July and is already seeing significant numbers of women and minorities enroll. Thirty-two percent of the program’s participants are female students.

“Typically, technology has been a field that has been more saturated with males over the years. I believe that trend is going to go away,” said Gawne.

“During a recession about three years ago, people began to ‘recareer’ due to downsizing in corporations and the military. Women were already in the work force in great numbers and were significantly affected by downsizing. Salaries for women in the information technology field are leaping forward,” he said.

He noted that the IT Pro program has enrolled about 27 percent minority students and those numbers are expected to continue growing.

“More individuals are working toward certification in information technology because they read the newspapers and see that most jobs require some information technology skills. Perhaps more significantly, they are dissatisfied with their current income,” he said.

IT Pro was offered in response to the thousands of information technology jobs that go unfilled in the United States. With proper training and certification, information technology professionals came earn $40,000 annual salary without prior experience.

Geared to the working individual, Old Dominion classes are offered at night and on weekends. Students are in class two evenings a week and alternating

Saturdays. The classes begin every six weeks, and are designed for individuals to earn certification.

The program targets degreed and non-degreed students with some technical skills who have the aptitude, motivation and interest to learn information technology. Students can earn certificates as systems engineers, network engineers, network administrators, WebMasters or programmer/analysts, solution developers, systems analysts and Web managers.

Nine classes are currently running, with more to be added as the eight different programs under IT Pro expand. Classes are now offered in Northern Virginia and Southeastern Virginia.