IT careers are a serious consideration for 14-year-olds Alina Khanal, in red, and Holly Smallwood.

Women may be under-represented in the IT workforce, but that doesn't worry some Waikato teens.

"It's more like a challenge - I'll beat you," said Holly Smallwood, 14.

She was one of about 30 high school-aged girls trying their hands at web design in a girls-only workshop at the University of Waikato on Friday.

Women make up less than a quarter of New Zealand's IT workforce, according to the 2013 census, so attracting more to the sector could be key to closing up the skills shortage, industry body NZTech says.

Holly and fellow Morrinsville College student Alina Khanal, 14, are both considering careers in the computer science sector.

"It's not just for guys," Alina said.

University of Waikato computer science senior tutor Nilesh Kanji led the workshop and said computer science has an image problem.

"A lot of people think it's really difficult and it's really boring, you just do stuff by yourself, you don't interact with people," he said.

"Coding is actually a really creative process because you can do whatever you can think of."

Many boys get into computers through gaming, but that doesn't happen so much with girls, Kanji said.

Some changes are attracting them more, though, such as software becoming more visual - as opposed to text only. And the option of studying computer graphic design could appeal more to female students.

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Yet only about 10 to 20 per cent of Waikato's computer science students are female.

"We want to increase that," Kanji said.

Greater diversity of computer scientists could help the sector find new solutions.

"Us guys, we don't know how females think, right? So getting that point of view is really good."

Maori students are also under-represented.

Most firms want to increase the diversity of their teams, NZTech director of government relations Jen Rutherford said.

"Female candidates at the moment are top of the class because they're the girls who really want to be there, so they're getting first dibs at all the good stuff that's going on," she said.

NZTech estimates a shortfall of more than 10,000 skilled Kiwi IT staff over the next three years; the country's tertiary system produces just over 2000 computer science graduates a year.

Attracting more women to the industry could help help fill that gap, Rutherford said.

Girls should look past the geeky perceptions to see what is going on in software development and apps.

"My message to parents is: it's a lucrative career and there's a lot of money to be made, and it's a great place to steer your children to."

Another champion for women in tech is Dr Mahsa Mohaghegh, who started the She# group in early 2014.

The group helps women make connections in the technology sector and has gone from about 20 members to about 340.

Mohaghegh, a Unitec senior lecturer in computing and information technology, agreed changing the perception of the industry is key to changing the gender ratio.