Who are Japan Webgrrls?
by Karen Solomon

Webgrrls packs a shrewd ROI for women who are willing to give their time and their expertise. Here are several:

Greta Poulson, Webmaster for the Japan chapter, networked herself a job with IBM based on the skills she honed while volunteering her time maintaining and producing the website. "I couldn't have gotten this job without the experience of redesigning the Webgrrls page," recalls Poulson. "It's the main piece in my portfolio." May Leong got a career makeover, and left her teaching position to take the job of Director with Webgrrls International in New York. Misa Kajiro learned web design at a Webgrrls workshop, and ushers her middle-aged Japanese friends into the world of computing.

What is the relationship between women and computers in Japan?

May Leong, Director, Webgrrls International:
Women in Japan have greater access to computers than men do. Households are now buying computers, and women are logging on at home while men are using their computers for business purposes at the office. In the workplace, women are the secretaries and are using computers more than men. For work and for pleasure, women are dialing up for chats, to find information, and to discover new tools. Women are looking for opportunities online. Definitely more and more women are getting online. However, I am pessimistic about women making decisions about the Internet. There may be more women users in Japan, but there's no increase in the small number of women making corporate or technological decisions. Women are working in the industry, but not in management positions.

Khristine Schaffner, Writer, Global Online, and Co-Leader, Japan Webgrrls:
Compared to other countries, women don't have as much power here. Learning to use the equipment and networking with other women is extremely important. It's all about power.

Misa Kajiro, Architect, Co-Leader, Japan Webgrrls:
Depending on the generation, there are different situations. Most young women now learn about computers at school and use them at home or in the office. But women over 40 normally have no chance to learn, never use computers, and are too shy to ask about it. Many of my friends who are in their 40s and 50s started to use a computer when they found out what I was doing. I think it's important that all women realize that they need a computer in their daily life.

Leslie Tkach, Student, Member, Japan Webgrrls:
I think that the IT field has a tendency to be dominated by men, not just in Japan, but elsewhere in the world. Boys have been encouraged from an early age to play computer games and interact with computers -- their socialization skills come later. Girls develop communications skills at an early age, and then pick up computer knowledge later. IT is a wide-open field for women in Japan, and with encouragement and support to be creative (something that I think everyone needs -- not just women), they can thrive in this atmosphere.

Connecting with a network of women: Japan Webgrrls
A conversation with May Leong

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