SPRINGFIELD - MassMutual Financial Group says it is making progress hiring women for computer related jobs in its extensive insurance and financial services businesses.

As it stands, 44 percent of MassMutual's IT employees are women, said Bob Casale, executive vice president and chief information officer for MassMutual.

Among supervisors in the IT department, 35 percent are female.

But its not enough for the company which is why it hosted its Women in Technology Conference Friday in the MassMutual Center convention center downtown.

"Today is an opportunity to bring together women who are like minded in their their passions around technology and in making a difference," said Anne-Marie Szmyt, vice president in IT strategy at MassMutual.

The event drew about 350 people, mostly MassMutual employees from its offices in Springfield, Enfield and elsewhere. They spent the day learning about the past, present and future of women in computer science.

"How do you develop the future work force?", Casale said. "We know that technology is an important part of every one of our businesses. There isn't a job out there that doesn't involve technology."

But women are underrepresented in technology fields. Nationally, 57 percent of all occupations in the workforce are held by women. In computing occupations, that percentage falls to 25 percent.

Women's representation in the computing and information technology fields fell from a peak of 38 percent in the mid-1980s to about 25 percent today.

Girls often loose interest in science and mathematics in elementary school or junior high school, Szmyt said.

"It happens at about the same time kids are aware of their grades," she said. "A lot of girls are not willing to risk getting a lower grade. A math or science classroom can be an intimidating place."

The conference follows a number of MassMutual initiatives around developing a tech-say workforce and include women in that development process. MassMutual hosts an IT Academy for students as young as high school sophomores.

"Some young women have gone through that program and are now MassMutual employees," she said. "Once they see what we do in action, they can see themselves in this world. It becomes real to them."

MassMutual will also host Girls Who Code, a national group aiming to bring more young women into lucrative tech careers in Springfield this summer.

MassMutual is also partnering with Smith and Mount Holyoke colleges on data-science programs for women and on UMass Amherst's big data project. MassMutual also runs a co-op program with Northeastern University that includes women.

"We understand that the future of innovation will be diverse," Casale said.

The past was diverse as well. One of the speakers Friday was LeeAnn Erickson, a filmmaker and author whose projects "Top Secret 'Rosies': The Female 'Computers' of WWII" and "The Computer Wore Heels" detail the experience of women who worked as "computers" during World War II figuring ballistics trajectories in a top-secret workshop at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.