According to research by BlackBerry, a third of girls aged 11-16-years-old are put off careers in IT services because there are no smart role models.

However, 90 per cent think that technology is "cool" and will talk about it regularly. Some 55 per cent of respondents also believe there should be less celebrity role models and more business role models.

Maggie Philbin, formally a presenter of Tomorrow's World, told the BlackBerry Women & Technology Awards: "We have a huge responsibility to promote positive examples of what women can aim to be.

She added: "By celebrating talented individuals we not only highlight one person's achievement, we also demonstrate to hundreds of women the fantastic opportunities technology can open up."

Other findings include that 43 per cent of young people do not think that a career in IT services is exciting and as such do not consider it.

The BlackBerry Women & Technology Awards take place in London on May 6th 2008. Shirin Dehghan won the BlackBerry Outstanding Woman in Technology 2006.

A recent Connect survey found that the two major concerns about outsourcing services like IT support were 'loss of control' (56 per cent) and 'budget over-runs' (43 per cent)