We’ve met some very impressive women through some recent Women’s Tech Hub events and we would love to share their stories, career journeys and insights. To do this, we are running a mini series of articles that features Women in Tech.
Here’s a collection of extracts of the three most recent pieces. We spoke with Jen Williams, Senior Software Developer at Networked Planet, Jenny Gaudion, Software Developer at Scott Logic and Tamara Chehayeb Makarem, User Experience Designer also at Scott Logic.
This is what they shared. Full interviews are on the ADLIB Blog.
Jen Williams, Senior Software Developer at Networked Planet:
ADLIB: Are there any experiences you could share that describe best what it is like to specifically work as a woman in your profession and in Tech in general?
Jen Williams: I’ve not got any stories to share with you that would differentiate my experiences at work from that of a software developer of a different gender to me. Yes, software development is highly skewed on the gender scale, but my own experience of this has been largely unremarkable – aside from the fact that I’d welcome a lot more diversity in the field.
As with any profession that’s found itself skewed to one sid
e or the other, it means that unconscious biases spring up (along with blatant biases!) and make the situation difficult to break out of. I’ve had more personal experiences of biases outside of my work environment than in it – people telling me that it’s strange I’m a programmer because computers / programming / geekery is somehow tied to male genetics – which is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard! But “the general public” do have this idea of what programmers look like, which then influences which people can imagine themselves as “techy”. Representation is key. Signal boost diversity.
ADLIB: If you could make one change happen immediately, what would it be?
JW: Eradicate all preconceived notions that in order to do [[this]] you must look like [[that]].
Jenny Gaudion, Software Developer at Scott Logic:
ADLIB: Are there any experiences you could share that describe best what it is like to specifically work as a woman in your profession and in tech in general?
Jenny Gaudion: I’ve been the only woman in the room/office countless times and particularly at technical conferences. This is something I’m pretty comfortable with, having joined the Scouts as a teenager and being a keen board gamer in my spare time. I’ve always been treated as a professional and an individual. The only gender-based comment I remember came from an elderly family member who thought secretaries were the only women who worked with computers! I think there can sometimes be differences in communication styles between the genders, which means that a mixed environment will benefit from the variety of approaches.
ADLIB: If there was such thing as a quick fix, if you could make one change happen immediately, what would it be?
JG: I would remove the stigma that sometimes exists around maths and tech – it’s the one subject some people seem proud to not understand. When I said I was going to study maths, some of the responses I remember were “Well, somebody has to”, “I hated that at school” and “Why? You can already do all the maths you need to”; I’m sure I’m not alone in experiencing this. None of these were because I was a woman entering tech, but all of these comments came from women.
Tamara Chehayeb Makarem, User Experience Designer at Scott Logic:
ADLIB: Are there any experiences you could share that describe best what it is like to specifically work as a woman in your profession and in Tech in general?
Tamara Chehayeb Makarem: It’s great to have organisations like Women’s Tech Hub Bristol. It gives women a platform to express themselves in a field where they are underrepresented, without excluding men. This support is greatly needed. However, we need to be careful to avoid a situation where these platforms become the only outlet women have. One of the problems with being a woman in tech is that you are always a ‘woman in tech’. Your opportunity to voice your opinion is done through the context of being a woman, and marketing your presence as a sign of a diverse workplace. Often, the only way women can express their opinion is within an environment provided exclusively for women.
I am against positive discrimination but I support measures to encourage women to build successful careers in tech. A gender mix creates a healthy environment that leads to more innovative solutions, as it does when people from different fields collaborate.
The underrepresentation of women in tech is most apparent at senior levels. A study by LeanIn and McKinsey shows the proportion of men in each role increases with the level of seniority. There are many talented women in lower and mid-level positions. The challenge is to help them become tomorrow’s leaders. Profile is key. Few women attend tech conferences, and fewer present at them. Creating a workplace where people of all ranks can be given a chance to build their profile, helping them achieve promotion, is vital.
ADLIB: If there was such thing as a quick fix, if you could make one change happen immediately, what would it be?
TCM: I think applications for jobs and speaker positions at conferences should be gender anonymous to ensure the selection process is fair. I would also set up a ranking system companies can opt to join, that audits them based on criteria like equal pay, and equal representation at senior levels.
Thank you for sharing. Keep an eye out for part four on the ADLIB Blog.
Image credits: Pexels.
