Women In Tech
It's so entertaining when you mention that you're into technology, how most people look so surprised and in awe. I usually wonder what's running through their heads '…a girl designer? Hmmm…'
The reaction of these individuals usually gets me thinking, why do people react this way?
Does it mean that all their lives, they've been around ladies with no iota of interest in technology? OR
Is it that, truly, they cannot fathom ladies choosing to live the 'boring and dreary' life of a programmer?
But, you can't blame these people because women are sparsely found in the tech industry and it's even rarer to see a colored female.
Everyone is, at some moments or points in life, plagued by self-doubt, but being in an industry where you are outnumbered by the opposite gender is especially tough.
Many tech women are not confident of themselves, as society popularly believes women have worse technical skills than their male counterparts. Some women suffer from imposter syndrome from work, struggling to have the morale to speak up and be heard.
It doesn't help that most women are taught to put their heads down, speak only when spoken to, not to brag, right from an early age.
Sometimes, the people around you don't even believe in you. Everyone expects you to do this or that, go to catering school, learn to tailor, be that amazing mother, sister, daughter(which is great), but you just want to sit down and code, design to your heart's content.
In workplaces, people are consciously and unconsciously baised. During meetings, it's a common experience for women to be outrightly ignored or talked over. Women are conspicuously left out of company decisions, group events because they are not part of the "In group", which in tech, mainly consists of men. All these don't bode well for the woman's career.
Women are thought to be aggressive when they're just being assertive, weak when they're just being humble.
But, the world is evolving as all things do. The tech industry is gradually changing its disposition towards female tech employees, with more chances to enable women to enter and grow in the industry.
Communities are being set up for women, allowing ladies to trade knowledge and skills, listen to stories of other women like them, and get inspired. Groups like SheCode Africa and DevelopHer are pushing to bring tech women together. Conferences and boot camps are being held regularly.
People are being sensitized to the need to stop gender bias, particularly in workplaces.
Amazing, smart, women like Facebook's COO, Sheryl Sandberg, are breaking barriers, at the top of their game, achieving feats no one thought women could. These female models can encourage even more women to be ambitious.
The first step, for women lacking in confidence, is to 'present themselves as confident.
Of course, confidence comes with mastery of your work, with technology constantly evolving and new systems being created every day, female tech enthusiasts should continue to acquire as much knowledge as conceivable. Being on top of new developments will bring about you being noticed.
After all, women shouldn't be handed positions just because they are women. We all have to earn our spot.
Attending workshops and lectures centered on teaching career-boosting skills and delivering important insights on the state of the tech sector would be very useful to your career.
We must prove that women in technology mean serious business. We have to create an environment in which the abilities of women in the industry are not questioned simply because they are women. We have to establish that females can do just as much as their male counterparts.
After all, the first computer programmer was a female, Ada Lovelace.
Thank you for reading!
