Vodafone CTO Sandra Pickering made a similar comment to me during the interview for the article on why the . "We need to be encouraging young women to be thinking about IT careers and it's not all about geeks and gadgets and widgets. There are jobs and careers in IT that make use of a whole range of skills."

Pickering holds one of the top IT jobs in the country -- she's responsible for Vodafone's network and its IT -- and she's determined to make sure that she isn't the last woman to hold that role.

Pickering talks about building a pipeline -- you have to get young women in at the start of their careers and then ensure that they retain their career-path after they have had children.

Because actually, that is also the tough part for professional women.

How do you keep up in the fast moving area that is technology while at the same time bringing up a family? Yes there are plenty of men out there who are fabulous fathers and many who have taken over the primary care giving role, but the main responsibility for childcare -- especially looking after the under-fives -- still rests mainly with women.