• Demand for IT training appears to be low among women
• The percentage of women who continue their studies at the tertiary level is 57% compared to 43% of men.
• Women constitute 18.7% of Internet users in Poland.
• According to 1999 ILO statistics, women constitute 49.6% of the workforce.
• There is a known “sex-specific income gap,” whereby women earned only 66-75% of men’s earnings for equal work.
• In 1998, 37% of Polish employers and the self-employed were women.
• IT is still perceived as a less-traditional job sector for women.
• Poland’s Internet access is one of the most expensive in Central and Eastern Europe.

Gender Policy Framework

• The purpose of the Parliamentary Group of Women (PGK) is to “introduce legislative changes which would ensure equal rights and opportunities for women and mechanisms of enforcing claims in cases where women’s human rights have been infringed.

Non-government Gender & IT Activities

• The Stefan Batory Foundation is to provide Internet access to schools and technology training for teachers in Poland.
• Kobiety Online increases women’s awareness about the Internet in personal and professional life including holding a Computer Summer School for women that offers training on software applications and the Internet.
• The Network of East-West Women’s (http://www.neww.org/) NEWW Online goal is “to maximize informational exchange, develop technical and institutional building skills, coordinate research and activist projects and influence policy decisions.”
• The Women’s Rights Center conducts research on women’s labor rights, violence against women, and legal rights.
• OSKA collects data on women discrimination in the workplace and overall women’s position on the labor market.
• EFKA promotes women’s development, independence and culture, and speaks out against women’s discrimination.