Jane’s been a key proponent of industry and educational institutions attracting and retaining women in CS degree programs and careers. I first met her at SIGCSE in 1997, after reading her paper and research on improving CS undergraduate curriculum to better retain all students. I had the privilege of working with her from then on, becoming a personal friend, and even employing one of her daughters.  She is a true advocate, mentor and supporter of both men and women in the field.

Jane’s work is more important than ever: the percentage of computer science graduates who are women declined from 37 percent in 1985 to a dismal 18 percent in 2009, according to the National Center for Women & Information Technology, another organization where Jane has had a tremendous impact.

For a greater understanding of this problem, download Solutions To Recruit Technical Women, (by Caroline Simard, Ph.D. and Denise Gammal, Ph.D.,) from the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology.

With the right IT skills, workers transition from one career path to another more easily—even though the path itself may be a major strategic shift, such as from construction to health services.

As a result of our research, we propose greater emphasis on mid-range IT skills as a requirement for worker retraining programs. We also support building stronger partnerships between existing programs and industry to ensure training programs target the needs of hiring managers, while also preparing workers for the competitive environment in today’s workplace.

The Bookey Consulting Worker Retraining white paper examines how well the worker retraining programs in Washington State’s community and technical colleges address the needs of IT hiring managers and employers. It maps skills training to vacancies in high-demand occupation areas, examines where gaps exist, and then recommends steps to ensure training aligns with industry needs.

Download our Workfer Retraining Summary or the full Worker Retraining white paper to review this research.

Worker Retraining Summary

Worker Retraining White Paper

We build enduring relationships with reliable people to round out our skill set and provide our clients with efficient solutions. What big firms call outsourcing, we call partnering.

On our most successful and gratifying projects, we determine the services needed, and then call on our favorite partners. Some of our relationships go back 20 years, and it’s like a family reunion when we land a project where we can work together again. Some of our favorite “cousins” are the following firms:

• SDK Bridge for technical and educational writing, including technical review of certification curricula
• ekeepo LLC for development work for SharePoint and open source languages
• SmoothFusion for implementation of digital marketing projects
• Handcuffed Creative for video creation and production
• Uptown Treehouse for social media work and related metrics
• Spot Henry for inspired branding, marketing and communications collaboration

When we put it all together, our clients are happy, and we continue to expand the portfolio of projects that we enjoy.

Tell us about the best (or worst) work partnership you ever had.

The first step was to gather the stories. She oversaw the development of a universal template, helped local program managers create engaging case studies and their own marketing materials, and showcased ongoing, community-level results in materials that reflected the stature of Microsoft’s initiative. By giving the Partners in Learning program managers a voice in their regions, Linda helped them get noticed locally and magnify the program’s impact on worldwide education reform.

Through a host of communication vehicles, including the Web, multimedia, social media and conferences, Linda “rolled up” the local stories—and associated business messages—of Partners in Learning, helping them spread through villages around the world, as well as the halls of Microsoft. Within a year, academics, community leaders, business partners and top executives of Microsoft were discussing the effects of this groundbreaking program.

RealNetworks Inc., the Seattle-based inventor of streaming media technology, wanted to refine and reinvigorate education marketing for their Helix Technology end-to-end streaming media platform. They brought in Bookey Consulting to help them conduct market research, review their existing customer relationships, focus their product positioning and breathe new life into their marketing and sales collateral.

With an initial focus on higher education, we conducted research to uncover who makes media technology purchasing decisions, their needs, and the barriers they face to adoption of the technology once it is in place. At the same time, RealNetworks engaged its sales teams to review marketing focus and product messaging.

With a clear view of the sales landscape, Bookey Consulting and RealNetworks developed a multi-level strategy to showcase and model the ease and effectiveness of Helix streaming media tools for teaching and learning. The new strategy incorporated new content for the Helix website and written materials, adoption guides and user group support, strategies for more effective conference participation, and a plan for developing Webinars and case studies.

With years of experience in this field, Patrick Hogan, Senior Product Planner for Microsoft® Corporation knows the risks associated with launching new versions of developer products, and wanted to make sure to get the right customer feedback throughout the process. Find out how he worked with us to create Vision Teams to guide Microsoft’s development groups.

Vision Teams Case Study

From those efforts, the team created Web design learning modules teachers can integrate as part of a class or a semester-long curriculum. Students are challenged to assume the role of professional Web designers; interviewing clients, creating wireframes and storyboards, and building compelling, user-friendly Web sites.

Results

• Over 1,000 schools have adopted the Expressions Web curriculum.
• Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs sposored by NASA and MESA California also adopted this curriculum in their student outreach programs.
• More than 300 high schools and supplemental after-school programs from New Mexico, California and Illinois used their new skills to participate in bliink, a high school web design contest.
• Bookey Consulting is part of the team creating curriculum for the next release of Expressions Web.

Download the Expressions Web learning module California Water Animals.