Women in Tech: Prathipa

Meet Prathipa. Prathipa is a backend software engineer with Reward SDK Team at Rakuten, where she develops APIs to enable Reward SDK users in achieving Rakuten Points, and interacts with databases and servers. Her responsibilities also include looking into technical queries raised by different stakeholders, as the team’s product is more customer-centric focused.?

Prathipa joined Rakuten in 2019 as an intern before joining as a software engineer in 2020. She wanted to experience the diverse environment that Rakuten provides with over 70+ businesses, which offered exposure of how other entities functioned and a better idea about their various systems.?

Q: What do you love most about what you do?

There are two things, one, solving problems, a key takeaway of which is learning something new each time you overcome an issue. And two, being able to have an effect, no matter how small or big, directly on people's everyday lives.

There are a few things that I wish I started doing earlier, such as contributing to non-profit/open-source projects in my free time. I believe it helps exchange ideas, understand different perspectives, and improve collaboration skills. Anyway, it's never too late to start!

I was amazed by how technology started making people's lives easier. This impact of technology is what inspired me to become a part of the tech world that's working towards making people's lives better. And this also aligns with Rakuten’s initiative in giving back to the society!

Q: Do you think that it is important for more women to be represented in the tech industry?

Definitely. The tech industry is now becoming more inclusive to women, and I hope the numbers keep rising in the days to come. One approach to encourage young women and girls to pursue their careers in tech is to have more women in senior/leadership roles to inspire the younger generation.

I believe small wins will eventually make a big difference over time. One such instance was having to give a tech talk back in my school to a crowd that had, comparatively, fewer women participants. I was proud of having got the opportunity to represent the female fraternity and will continue to do so.

Q: Any advice to women in tech? Or women aspiring to work in tech?

I’m only in the early stages of my career and still have a lot more to learn, perhaps one piece of advice which I want to give myself and to fellow women in tech is to be confident in voicing out your ideas or opinions and not letting self-doubt get in the way. And for those looking forward to pursuing their dreams in tech, keep learning, enjoy the process, and finally, when your code compiles, it'll all be worth it!