Exploring Women in Technology Related Careers

As we work on raising our two daughters, my wife and I are very aware of how many activities (sports, jobs, etc.), are male dominated. Which is why we focus so hard on raising them to be strong, powerful and independent woman.

I am excited to share a little more about women in technology, their growing presence and how we can continue to level the playing field between male and female leaders.

Talking about innovators in the world of technology most people remember influential men. However, the contributions of Woman in Technology is also significant, without them, the modern technological world would be quite different. Here are some women who have changed the tech world.

Ada Lovelace is a British mathematician, the author of the description of Charles Babbage’s computer and the first program for it. She is considered the world’s first programmer. The programming language Ada is named in her honor.

Sheryl Sandberg – the first female member of the board of directors of Facebook, IT-entrepreneur, executive director of Facebook since 2008. Virginia Rometeti is the first female CEO of IBM, chairperson of the board of directors, general director of the company.

Susan Wojcicki is CEO of YouTube, the ex-vice president of Google for advertising and one of the first employees of the corporation.

Looking at the career path of outstanding women in technology related jobs, it turns out that the main obstacles were the lack of business contacts. Therefore, it is important to develop a community of women in the areas of IT and STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics), in particular. Such a community will help share professional experience and knowledge, search for mentors, learn from personal examples and implement role models of successful women in IT. Building a community helps generate new ideas, create projects, and attract investments.

Looking back at what IT industry looked like 10-15 years ago programmers were mostly male. The percentage of women was small, and they were mainly involved in software testing. Thankfully this situation has changed quite a lot. Many new roles have appeared designers, business analysts, and coordinators of projects, programs or releases, as well as new technologies. There are more women making their mark in all directions, although, sadly, they are still a minority.

However, it is good that there are such companies as Campaign Monitor, they have no stereotypes regarding women in technology careers, in fact, they have many women in management.  The issue of career opportunities for women is becoming increasingly popular. There are social and business initiatives that help girls realize themselves in IT. Here are some useful projects working in the United States. Here are some of them Kode With Klossy, Girls Who Code, Girls Learning Code and Black Girls Code.

Here is a small part of an interview with Emma’s very own Christine McPherson, VP of Human Resources I found it so inspiring and would like to share it with you guys.

Interviewer: Once they’re on board, what do you do to support [employee] growth and make sure they stay?

Christine: Promotions are important, and making sure people are getting the correct training for their roles [is something] I truly believe in, and it definitely helps women stay on board longer. But, I would suggest that our benefits also definitely play a big role in this. Most importantly, we provide a really flexible work environment, and that’s for parents, as well as people of all different and various stages in their personal lives.

It’s not unusual for moms and dads to leave for the 3:00 kid pickup, or to be a part of that carpool, or to attend school events at 9 am. I’m very proud that we’re able to provide that type of environment for all of our employees.

On maternity leave

Christine: We also see a pretty good amount of women that come back after maternity leave, which is awesome. We provide four months paid base salary for all moms, and they have the flexibility to take longer than that with a flex period upon their return as they get up and running again.

We want to make sure moms are really prepared to return to work, and when they do come back, we have a nursing room and we make sure that they have that flexibility and support to continue to do their job. We want moms to want to come back to work after having babies or adopting, and being able to provide that extra support is really important to us.

Wrap up

Do not be afraid to change your job, learn something new, even if that industry is male dominated. It is never too late to try something new; women need to work together to empower one another, from our own interactions and experiences, to how we are raising our daughters on a daily basis.