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Sunday 18 January 2009, 1:36 PM
Do Women & IT Mix?
On 3 February, BCS and recruitment portal Womenintechnology.co.uk (love the cliché pink design!) are jointly hosting W-Tech 2009, a free recruitment showcase in London aimed at women who want to get into, or get on in IT. Workshops will include how to ask for a pay rise without sleeping with the boss and advice on working in stinky all-male teams, plus creating your own ‘work brand’ - whatever that is!
Around 20 blue-chip employers including Microsoft, Google, IBM and Hewlett Packard are sponsoring the event. There will also be an evening reception and panel discussion featuring IT healthcare entrepreneur Kavita Oberoi from the hit Channel Four programme ‘The Secret Millionaire’, and Punita Gajree, Head of Programme Solutions, London 2012.
Rachel told me that nowadays, gender bias is much more indirect than it used to be, often by individuals, and less part of an inbuilt culture…Yet there is still a lot of emphasis on women’s family responsibilities, a ‘biology is destiny’ approach, which apparently affects only a part of only some women’s lifetime careers. Women often assume that if they are good at what they do, then it will be noticed and promotion will automatically follow. Not necessarily so it seems. It is important for them to make it clear that they are good at their work and would like to be promoted, otherwise they may be disregarded.
Rachel was initially a systems analyst and project manager, before she undertook professional solicitors’ training by distance learning while still working. After two years as a trainee solicitor and then qualifying, she returned to IT for several years until the subject of IT law began to emerge. She now runs her own specialist IT law practice and is a part-time Associate Lecturer in Law at the Open University. She has also written and co-authored a number of books and edits the ‘IT Law Guides’.
If you are/were/will be a woman working in IT, you really should sign up for W-Tech 2009, as it seems the whole business world is against you. Next up is G-Tech, a free motivational showcase supporting homosexuals interested in IT. Whatever next?
Christian Harris
Managing Director, BidUpBiz.com
PreviousComments on this post
As with any industry, in IT it is vital that gender should never be cited as a hindrance to progression. But it is equally important to remember that there is no room in business for waging gender wars. Rather than worrying about changing all the ways of the corporate world, it is important that women in IT approach their careers with an optimistic attitude and proactively pursue their long-term goals.
As IT professionals, we need to appreciate the value of the individual to ensure the sustainability of our industry – gender and ability are lines that should never be blurred in the working world. The industry will suffer in the long-term if it continues to overlook the skills that women can offer, but on the same token, women also have a responsibility to ensure they are not adopting a defeatist approach if they want to succeed in IT.
Rikke Helms, Dexterra
