March 8 at Tumo
2015-03-09
News
Flowers, candy, balloons and teddy bears filled the streets of Yerevan yesterday on the occasion of International Women's Day, which represents an opportunity to celebrate women and their achievements.
At Tumo, this was an occasion to reflect once again on the gender gap in technology. One of Tumo's goals is to reach a balance that is representative of the general population, with females forming around 50% of students. We are not quite there yet, with the current percentage of female students at Tumo closer to 40% – much better than the technology sector as a whole but still shy of our target.
The picture on the staff side, however, is a bit different. Tumo's instructional staff has more women than men, and the team of permanent workshop leaders and content developers is equally balanced. Additionally, a large proportion of the over 100 visiting international workshop leaders who have taught advanced classes at Tumo have been women, with many more female experts expected to teach this year.
Tumo's top management is also gender balanced with 50% of managers being female. And, of course, Tumo's Executive Director, Marie Lou Papazian, has become a role model for many young women currently learning at Tumo. She has held a number of leadership positions in the past in traditionally male settings, including that of manager in the male dominated construction industries of both New York and Yerevan.
Tumo continues to encourage diversity at all levels in enrollment and participation in workshops, and ensures that the design of the curriculum is suited to the differing needs of Tumo's varied student body.