Women – claim your space!

What are the most common myths you would like to dispel about working in tech?

Well, if you want me to pull out the big clichés then here are some semi-serious attempts to refute a few of them:

“Engineers only work in dark basements” – I dare you to visit any big tech’s HQ – their offices are awfully bright.

“Isn’t working in tech boring and dry?” – You would be surprised how emotionally loaded tech can become. I recommend asking a bunch of developers to move a massive enterprise application to a new tech stack.

“You don’t look like someone who knows tech” – Sorry-not-sorry for not fitting your stereotype, but you also have not yet seen my collection of DC and Marvel shirts.

What inspired you to pursue a career in digital/tech?

Sounds profane, but it simply excites me and brings me joy. I love that IT is rooted in deep logic yet driven through high levels of creativity and confronts me with daily intellectual puzzles that challenge me to combine these two seemingly diametral ways of thinking. Also, I am super excited by how Tech enables products and solutions that (when designed, governed, and used responsibly) can change individuals’ lives for the better.

What did your journey into tech look like?

I was pretty late to the “Tech party”. Until my Business Bachelor I had little touchpoints with technology.

It was something that intimidated and alarmed me. Yet the compulsory curriculum included Business Informatics, which somehow came easy to me and lit an intrinsic curiosity to understand the topics beyond the class content. One of my tutors was a girl that had moved from business to informatics who inspired me with her drive and love for the topic she taught. Two years later, I found myself randomly hitting her up on social media and asking for her advice on switching over to business informatics for my masters.

What followed was a continued excitement for the subject, yet also a lot of demanding work, sweat, and tears, as I was lacking the respective technical background knowledge and skillset the program was expecting. Fortunately, I had (still have) an amazing group of classmates (in line with the cliché all male of course), who taught me a lot and encouraged me to continue whenever I was about to give up.

Who has been an influential person in your career so far?

Every person I interact with frequently brings something unique and valuable I can learn from. Whether it’s a small conversation or a profound connection – each interaction has contributed to my growth. Sometimes it has also been trivial things that had an enormous impact like an encouraging sentence or an open ear from a colleague at the right moment.

I am also incredibly grateful to have brilliant mentors in my company that give great advice, continuously challenge me, and create opportunities for me to grow or show what I am capable of.

Some time ago, I had a discussion with one of them on if and why women that broke late into tech tend to hide themselves and opt for softer non-technical roles/specializations. In that conversation he encouraged me to not shy away from and seek tech/content heavy projects. When I seemed hesitant, he said: “I know you can do it, I have seen you do it."

"If my daughters end up in Tech when they grow up, I want them to have role models like you” – Needless to say, that stuck with me.

Does tech have a gender diversity problem? And how can we encourage more women to join?

Let's call it a gender diversity challenge, as I am hopeful, we can get over it. Great progress has been made recently with increased open communication, inspiring young girls to go into STEM subjects, mentorship programs etc. Yet, I believe we still have quite some way to go to where we realistically could and should be.

In my opinion the challenge also does not purely lie in “pimping” female headcount, but even more in reducing structures (e.g., which behavior is rewarded) and unconscious bias that limits or impedes women to stay and thrive (or any minority for that matter). As women in tech right now, WE can learn to adapt while staying true to ourselves. By staying committed and creating opportunities, we can inspire change for future generations.

Let me explain:

Unconscious bias has been baked into our brains for generations and manifests itself in our corporate cultures and daily interactions. Some say existing bias will change over time as soon as we achieve a critical mass of women in tech. So, we only need to get more women into tech, and for them to stick around long enough and thrive to enter influential positions to change behavioral standards. Sounds simple right?

However, for many (not all) women to succeed as minority in male-heavy industries, it helps to learn how to navigate or take on certain subconsciously rewarded/respected behavior, which tends to be stereotypically masculine (e.g., taking up more space in a room). But if we adapt too well, we risk internalizing existing biases. In doing so we might lose sight of what struggles we initially encountered and wanted to change for the ones that follow.

So, if you are a woman in tech and you sometimes feel a bit out of place, I would like to encourage you to stick around, to adapt but to do it consciously, and grow without losing sight of your authentic self and what makes you unique.

Find the tribe of people you like working with, the topics you are passionate about and do not shy away from technical content or roles. Figure out what it means to be extremely good at your job and try to achieve it with your own set of strengths. And if there is no place or opportunities for you – think about creating it yourself ??.