Samira has gained more self-confidence through her IT lessons. Left Ton Mertens (Photo: Peter van Zetten).

Komp u ter hulp: more women in IT

"IT suits women better because they can think more logically and understand more quickly the structure of the things they are doing," says Ton Mertens (1951-†2126), chairman/instructor of the non profit organsition Komp u ter hulp (A The Hague wordplayng for come to help you)
With his organization he is committed to getting more women to work in IT and he works with the Oranje Fund, among others.

By Stuart Kensenhuis

The Hague - In the Netherlands only 10% of women work in IT, which he thinks is far too little. He makes a comparison with India where they are well represented in that industry with almost 50%. "The fact that they don't really want to work in IT in the Netherlands has to do with the 'nerdy' atmosphere that surrounds it. They also still don't see that you can easily will be 100 years with this work and get paid better, while with a heavy and relatively poorly paid job, for example in health care, you can't keep it up for long", says Mertens.

Mail from Lara

He shows an e-mail from  Lara, an ex-directional secretary who was trained by his foundation in a few months to IT administrator level 4. 'Dear Ton, I was told today that I have been hired by an IT company. I also get a phone from the company (no more pathetic prepaid) and a starting salary of 3,000 euros.'

"In the Netherlands, only 10% women work in IT"

Samira studied Dutch law but has mainly worked as a Human Resource Manager (HRM) for the Tax and Customs Administration and as a team leader at Customs. "After having had a child, I was a house mother for 5 years. Now I want to get back to work, but when I apply for a job I notice that returning without IT knowledge is very difficult. I was a digi bite and came to Komp u to help me retrain. After 2 months I understood all the IT jargon and in the training there was more depth. Now I can for example install a Server 2016 and Exchange mail of the same year. With the IT knowledge I am gathering here, I will soon have enough self-confidence to enter the job market again," she says.

Lessons adapted to the home situation

Jalika is also enthusiastic about her retraining at Komp u ter hulp. She used to work in the tourist sector but due to personal circumstances she came to sit at home. "I got depressed, took medication and didn't feel like anything. Until an acquaintance told me about this training. I signed up and within a few days I could already install Windows 10 and disassemble and reassemble a computer. I like the fact that here the lessons are adapted to the home situation of the students instead of the other way around. Because things are going so well I am now rid of my depression and I don't use medication anymore", she says.

Proudly Mertens looks at the ladies. "There are more men than women working in the IT world and that's really not necessary", he emphasizes..

More Role models

Komp ter hulp also cooperates with the Non Profit Organisition Learnmoney (Leergeld) which provides computers to underprivileged children with the help of the municipality.
The licenses Windows 10-11 and Office are provided by Komp u ter hulp.


Read the EU article how te project started.
 
Second location Komp u ter hulp closed
The inventory has donated to a school in the Ukraine.