A research study by The National Center for Women & Information Technology showed that “gender diversity has specific benefits in technology settings,” which could explain why tech companies have started to invest in initiatives that aim to boost the number of female applicants, recruit them in a more effective way, retain them for longer, and give them the opportunity to advance. But is it enough?
Two years ago, we launched a diversity series aimed at bringing the most inspirational and powerful women in tech to your attention. Today, we’d like you to meet Swarali Karkhani, a software engineer intern at Exoscale.
Swarali Karkhani, software engineer intern at Exoscale
What got you interested in tech?
It was through a workshop in school when I first played around with Alice. Alice is a programmable platform for kids for storytelling. We would have computer lessons in school but nothing quite captured my intrigue as being able to see logical implementation of your idea turn into a tangible form.
A day in Swarali’s life
I’m currently a software engineering intern at Exoscale. I’m working on developing an orchestration service for managing Kubernetes cluster. Typically my workday starts with a one-liner status update on IRC, then depending upon the stage of the task at hand. It could either be a meeting to discuss the task detail, or coding (according to the details discussed), or reviewing other team-mates work. We have weekly reviews to us up-to-date about each other’s work. All my team-mates work mostly remotely, so we really emphasize on communicating well and not waste too much time in meetings.
A strong support system
I have always received tremendous support from my family and friends. My parents especially made sure I was never held back in any way. They are both definitely my role-models.
Any obstacles along the way?
No one openly tried to stop me from learning and advancing my professional life. But I’ve had instances of people (some of them even teachers) discouraging me from pursuing higher education while encouraging my male peers.
Being in the minority can cause you to feel isolated sometimes which can lead to some spaces, both physical and online, being not very welcoming to women. Not consciously, but online communities sometimes might not take you as seriously if you’re a woman. This could be detrimental for your career, especially in a field like technology where the internet is an influential tool.
Why aren’t there more women in tech?
I think there is still a bit of unconscious bias among people, even women themselves against women’s aptitude in the STEM fields.
This prevents more women from entering the field and thus feeding into the bias itself.
What are you most proud of in your career?
I’m most proud of two things in my career:
1. Designing and delivering a major feature that improved the run-time and efficiency of cluster health monitoring during my last job.
2. Deciding to take a leap in my career by leaving my current job and enrolling into a masters program.
Would our world be different if more women worked in STEM?
Definitely.
I think a diversified field can bring light to different problems, different outlooks, and ultimately different solutions. And that is the end-goal of technology after all, isn’t it?
The discussion about diversity is gaining momentum. How long will it take to see results from the current debate?
Although not fast enough, I think we’re already seeing some positive effects in the industry.
Every time a minority joins the workforce, it paves a path for more minorities to join in. I hope to see diversity gain traction in the coming decade.
Tips & tricks
I think women in tech should try to step out of their comfort zone more, speak up more without having imposter syndrome. Once they get in the field, they will realize that it’s not just them, everyone is trying to figure it out.
Don’t miss our Women in Tech profiles:
- “Technology reflects the people who make it”
- “In the right company, working in tech is a great career”
- Why women fall out of the tech pipeline
- Breaking the mold: ‘It’s not that you’re good — it’s that you’re female’
- How to avoid the culture of male programmers
- Creating an equal playing field is about more than just teaching someone coding skills
- The more women you see in STEM, the less intimidating it is for others to join
- The tech industry tends to lose women along the way. Change is underway
- How to get (and stay) into the tech industry: Tips & tricks for women
- Transitioning into a tech career? Silicon Valley culture is one of the biggest initial obstacles
- Abby Kearns: “Diversity ensures continuous innovation”
- “In technology, you become a lifelong learner — More women should embrace this career”
- Cultural impact is not driven by gender, but by diversity
- Everyday superheroes: “I don’t have a role model, my career was based on my mistakes”
- Diversity talk: For tech, it’s less about a pipeline problem and more of a marketing problem
- Diversity talk: It’s important to receive support from tech communities
- Everyday superheroes: Women just need to see more of us — techie women
- Anyone who wants to learn and grow won’t continue in an industry that tells them they are stupid
- There is too much allowance for tolerating toxic people in tech
- Coding myths and how finding communities like Hear Me Code helps you learn best
- 3 strategies to try out if you want to support women in tech
- Young women carry less career gender bias and more media influence
- Women are often pigeonholed into “soft skill” roles and pushed away from engineering
- Diversity talk: Many women suffer from the impostor syndrome
- How to succeed in tech: Shutterstock’s Rashi Khurana gives her tips
- Diversity talk: Using lingo is making tech sound harder than it really is
- Diversity talk: “We can’t expect men to hand us equality on a silver platter”
- How to succeed in tech: Agnès Crepet gives her tips
- “Many people still need to be taught that diversity is more than just a trend”
- “Many companies lack the infrastructure & career growth opportunities to support female employees”
- “Diverse teams can help prevent unhealthy competition that occurs sometimes in male-dominated teams”
- How to succeed in tech: Testlio’s Kristel Kruustük shares her tips
- “As the tech field becomes cloud-based, the flexibility and remote work culture will grow”
- How to win the diversity battle: Tips from Atlassian’s Molly Hellerman
- Diversity talk: “Women should not be herded into a career to meet quotas”
- “The tech industry can move even faster by increasing the diversity of talent”
- Diversity talk: Even if your team is not very diverse, what matters is that they value you
- Diversity talk: Exec reveals her secret to success — Always be curious
- How to win the diversity battle: Tips from GitLab’s Barbie Brewer
- Diversity talk: Tips from Lisk’s Gina Contrino on how to succeed in tech
- “The combination of tech IQ and people EQ can set you apart in the tech world”
- “Mentorship, acceptance, and trust are really important in fostering gender diversity in the workplace”
- The tech industry is not solely responsible for pushing gender diversity
- “There isn’t enough clarity on what it means to work in tech and to be a woman in tech”
- Diversity talk: Exec reveals her secret to success — Become comfortable with change
- Diversity in the AI world & how imposter syndrome is vital!
- “Even if women decide to work as developers because they are passionate and qualified, they are sometimes treated like diversity hires”
- “We need fewer WiT luncheons and more women coding & deploying projects side by side with men”
- Diversity talk: How to overcome challenges in the workplace
- “We need to increase the awareness of the benefits and challenges of diversity”
- Diversity talk: The biggest obstacle we currently face is the idea that equality is here already
- How to succeed in tech: “Go ahead and do it. This is a great option for women”
- “I think the topic of diversity is viewed very narrowly to only mean race or gender”
- Breaking the mold: “Women are not solely responsible for solving the diversity challenge”
- How to succeed in tech: Katerina Skroumpelou gives her tips
- How to get (and stay) into the tech industry: Ana Cidre shares her tips & tricks
- Diversity talk: “We need to ditch the idea that women don’t love their careers as much as men do”
- How to succeed in tech: Samantha Quiñones gives her tips
- Diversity talk: People who act as gatekeepers in the tech community are part of the problem
- How to succeed in tech: Tzofia Shiftan shares her tips
- Diversity talk: “Tech is one of the most flexible and evolving industries that can work in women’s favor”
- Diversity talk: “If you want to advance, make it known and be persistent. You’ll need a thick skin”
- How to get (and stay) into the tech industry: Sherry List shares her tips & tricks
- How to win the diversity battle: “Well behaved women rarely make history”
- Diversity talk: “When dealing with challenges, it is not a time to be depressed or let self-doubt engulf you”
- How to win the diversity battle: “The tech industry is not as bad as it sounds”
- How to succeed in tech: Áine Mulloy gives her tips
- “Having more women in management roles can and will create a safe place for other women to flourish”
- “The number of women in tech is increasing but the growth path for them is not very lucrative”
- How to succeed in tech: Sauce Labs’ Pamela Prosperi gives her tips
- Diversity talk: Not everyone wants to be a ‘pioneer’ and be the ‘first female developer’ or ‘first female VP’
- How to succeed in tech: CloudBees’ Isabel Muñoz Vilacides shares her tips & tricks
- Diversity talk: “You need to take accountability for your own success”
- How to succeed in tech: StateZero Labs’ Tazz Gault and Katie Mills share their tips
- Diversity talk: “It often takes the people who have the privilege or are not oppressed to speak up”
- How to succeed in tech: InnoGames’ Maja Matic shares her tips
- “The lack of women in technical roles stems from the lack of mentors & skills-based training”
- “Each of us is responsible for breaking stereotypes & pursuing an education rooted in equality”
- Diversity talk: “If you are passionate about what you are doing, distracting nonsense fades into the background”
- How to succeed in tech: Diffblue’s Jane Silber shares her tips
- How to succeed in tech: Keep your coding passion alive, it will make a difference as you move forward in your career
- How to win the diversity battle: “By sharing my qualifications early in a meeting, it changed the entire dynamic of the conversation”
- Why aren’t there more women in tech? “We lack role models, and we lack support every step of the way”
- Tips for women in tech: “Setbacks and ‘failures’ are really learning opportunities”
The post “I think women in tech should try to step out of their comfort zone more, speak up more without having imposter syndrome.” appeared first on JAXenter.
Source : JAXenter
