Women are taking over the software testing industry and 75% of jobs are expected to be filled by women by 2006, risk measurement company Vizuri has predicted in an analysis of employment patterns.

Overall, less than 25% of the IT workforce are women, but in the software testing sector the percentage filled by women is now approaching 50%. The figure five years ago was only 5%, according to Vizuri.

"The IT industry has long been dominated by men with technical qualifications. Al-though having these qualifications is still crucial in software testing, gender should never be a barrier," said Paul Dixon, Vizuri's resourcing director.

Dixon said women are good at interacting with customers in the sector, where they have to take different sets of instructions for the same or multiple projects.

Research has also shown that women are better than men at juggling different tasks at the same time, and tests between schoolgirls and boys have shown that girls tend to be more methodical than boys in their approach to most tasks.

A Vizuri spokeswoman said this may explain why women have become suited to the software testing sector, which demands "responsiveness" and "thoroughness".