Women are typically underrepresented in tech roles. We’d like things to get a bit more even.

Women in Tech & lastminute.com group

A happy and productive workplace is a diverse workplace and lastminute.com group are dedicated to promoting diversity and equality across the whole business. This includes gender equality in tech - a sector that typically sees an underrepresentation of females. We’d like things to get a bit more even. 

Stereotypically men are more associated with roles that involve fixing, designing and building but of course, women are equally capable of these roles. They are about problem solving and logic, gender is irrelevant.

Why there should be more women in tech

• To create a diverse, equal and inspiring workplace
• With more women in tech, there will be a more equal balance of gender needs accounted for during the research and development process
• There will be more female role models for the younger tech generation to look up and aspire to
• There will be less gender stereotypes in tech, i.e. robots as male, personal assistants as female

A few tech innovations invented by women

• The handheld syringe (Letitia Geer)
• Gas central heating (Alice Parker)
• Residential solar heating (Dr Maria Telkes)
• Kevlar (Stephanie Kwolek)
• The foundations for Wi-Fi (Hedy Lamarr)

We spoke to some of our female Tech team members to get their thoughts, check them out;

Vanesa Tejada - Programme Manager @ lastminute.com group

Why do you think it’s important to encourage more women into tech roles?

When I was at the school I remember my friends choosing non technology paths because they felt there was some limitations for them. Now, I would want to know what kind of limitations they saw because I had none. Technology is more than coding. Technology is working with a team, creating, collaborating, investigating and continuously improving a digital product which provides solutions to real people.

What do you think would change if there was more gender equality in tech?

I believe diversity enriches perspectives and skills within teams. I believe that more equality will always have a positive impact on any company. The culture of a company is extremely important but even more important than that is to simply hire people that are good at their jobs independent of the gender.

How can we encourage more girls to study science and technology with a view to a career in the sector?

These days Science and Technology subjects offer a wide variety of opportunities in different industries and roles.

Let me share with you my journey:

I studied Telecommunications engineering, specialising in Networks. My first job was to develop a network system for a Telco company, my experience then led me into the Travel and Leisure industry where I am today.

I have progressed from a developer building better websites for travellers, a Scrum Master that improves the way a team works together to deliver better products, I had the opportunity to own a digital product and increase its value for customers. I have coordinated the integration of two companies and now I work with the product teams across 5 countries, coordinating a program that aims to inspire and enrich the life of travellers. This is the path I have created for myself but I could have chosen to grow as a developer, providing technical solutions across the whole organisation. Thanks to my career in Technology I have had many opportunities and have been able to explore many other ways to improve my professional and personal career.

What do you love about working in tech?

Solving customer problems, making their life easier and simpler. Converting ideas into real solutions and products. When my friends tell me they have booked their holidays via lastminute.com, I feel like I have been a part of their happiness and I love to make people happy.

Raffaella Rossini - Chief of Staff @ lastminute.com group

Why do you think it’s important to encourage more women into tech roles?

I think it is important to encourage people that are keen on developing both their technical skills and business domain knowledge into the Tech Industry - independent of their Gender. 

It is essential for our industry to continue growing (by sharing, teaching and mentoring) and in increasing awareness and understanding of the benefits of Technology.

What do you think would change if there was more gender equality in tech?

Diversity in general enriches the creative process by providing different viewpoints on all things, it challenges your beliefs and helps you to keep an open mind.

How can we encourage more girls to study science and technology with a view to a career in the sector?

Positively, I think this is happening already: I know that boys and girls are equally taking part in coding dojos for kids where I live in Switzerland, for example.

I think the way forward instead of saying let’s encourage more girls to study Science and Technology is to avoid discouraging the girls who are there already cultivating from their passion by saying things like “You won’t succeed, it is a man thing” or by making them feel out of place by their choices.

We should also dismiss certain clichés that seems to represent a woman: women are good at multitasking and not at other things like numbers, for instance, and they have to strive for perfection in order to keep up with men in their industry.

The bias starts really early on in education...we need to overhaul this, for instance by encouraging an agile mindset in school, that is to say we should be teaching our young people to believe that their abilities can improve over time by practicing, to consider failures as a learning opportunity and to embrace challenges.

What do you love about working in tech?

I love the vastness and the flexibility of the Product Development field, where you can transition to several different roles while learning on the go: I am never bored here and I have a lot of opportunities to grow and to contribute to the creative process behind the development of a product.

I love that a small cross-functional team, building a product, can have a fast and big positive impact on the life of all the people out there: it is thrilling to see people actually enjoying what you have built and to think of the amount of people you can potentially reach out to!

Daniela Pavesi - Front End Developer @ lastminute.com group

Why do you think it’s important to encourage more women into tech roles?

Diversity is a great thing for any type of business and it encourages different thought processes which are necessary for solving problems or creating great products. A mixture of women and men in any department offers a balanced creative force, those are some good reasons to encourage women into Tech :)

What do you think would change if there was more gender equality in tech?

I’ve been working in Tech since 2001 and I have never been made to feel discriminated against by anyone because I am a women. I’ve always been treated equally by my male counterparts and by the company (salary, opportunity etc): I feel Tech is an open place where women can work freely, we just need more women to join us! Tech companies, generally, are open minded and this is a great thing, because they know that it is better to have a wider mix of people for success.

How can we encourage more girls to study science and technology with a view to a career in the sector?

The Tech world is growing rapidly, I think that there is so many opportunities for women in IT to develop and create amazing careers. I think it is important to show the benefits of working in this world for example there is so much much flexibility, some companies allow you to work remotely or part time for example if you have children. There is no reason why you cannot have both, this is something that really appeals to me.

What do you love about working in tech?

The people; during my career I have met so many interesting, kind, funny, clever people and I have learnt so much from them… This is why I love working in Tech :)

We strive to create a team where people identify with, and are inspired by others.

You can find and apply for all our latest tech roles here.