Facebook and LinkedIn are looking to boost the small number of women in IT following a huge slump since the peak 35 percent diversity rate in 1985.

Facebook's chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg announced the new partnership, offering mentoring and support programs for women looking to study programming, design and other technology related studies.

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LinkedIn claims 17 percent of its technology workforce is female, while Facebook posts even poorer numbers at 15 percent. The average in the industry is around 20 percent for technology jobs, 40 percent for the full workforce at the technology company.

"A lot of our consumers, at least half, sometimes more, are women. We build a product that gives people a voice." Sandberg said. "We know we can't build a product for the world unless our teams reflect the diversity of the people who use the product."

It's not clear what made women leave programming and other IT roles in 1985, but the mood around technology certainly changed, plummeting to these low numbers.

Sandberg already pushes more women into roles in technology through her Lean In Circles program, focused on support for women studying or looking to move into a technology career.

The recent influx of high-profile female executives like Marissa Mayer, Sheryl Sandberg, Ginni Rometty and Julie Larson-Green should be a good incentive to women looking to get into technology, showing woman can get to the top of the career path.

TagsSheryl Sandberg, LinkedIn, Women in IT, Programming, technology