Marta at Women Techmakers 2017
Women Techmakers (WTM) is a global program that brings together female leaders in the tech world to celebrate and encourage women and other minority groups to flourish. With less than 7% of tech positions in Europe filled by women, WTM offers the much-needed visibility, community, and resources for women in technology. In this interview, Marta Garrido, a tester at Flywire and a speaker at this year’s WTM in Valencia, shares her experience as a woman working in the tech sector and explains why driving change and diversity in the world and the workplace is so important.
How do you feel about being a woman in tech? What are some of the challenges you have faced?
To tell you the truth, my experience so far has been great! Although it’s true that the tech world is eminently masculine, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s chauvinistic. It’s a world that values collaboration over competition and that prizes training. I have to admit that I’m also lucky to work in a company that promotes creativity and innovation. We are given the freedom and resources to find simple but powerful solutions to resolve the issues we encounter. I find that the tech world is a sector where team building is crucial and where you improve and grow professionally at a very rapid rate. Without a doubt, the sector I am in and the company I work for have the characteristics I’ve always looked for.
Why did you choose to speak about diversity and empathy at WTM?
Diversity in the tech industry, and more specifically in software development, is very rare. It has been scientifically proven that the majority of professionals dedicated to software development are predominantly white, heterosexual men between the ages of 25 and 40. In addition, there exists a lack of diversity in the leadership roles of tech companies: 85% of the leaders of the biggest companies in the industry are men, of which almost 70% of them are white. This result reflects that there currently exists a lack of diversity where people of different ages, ethnicities, and sexuality are being underrepresented. I chose to speak about diversity at the WTM because it is a global issue that affects the whole industry, not just women and minorities.
In a world where the population is steadily aging, the talent pool will inevitably get smaller over time, as the age profile and population shifts. Recognising and addressing this reality will help companies tap into a large pool of untapped talent and opportunities to improve their businesses. In addition, studies have shown that diversity can drive a company’s innovation. Inclusive companies have confirmed that diversity improves decision making, communication and collaboration. An inclusive and diverse companies is critical to enable businesses to grow and develop.
Do you believe that empathy helps in addressing the issue of diversity?
Empathy is one of a worker’s most important qualities and consequently one of the the company’s biggest values. It has been proven to improve the interaction between team members, strengthen client relationships, and help team members create more inclusive solutions that help transform competition into collaboration. Personally, it is without a doubt a fundamental filler to diversity, and inclusion in the world tech is an ability to take into account the hiring of a new employee due to its actual importance in the tech world.
Why do you think there aren’t more young women choosing to pursue a career in technology?
Although many factors drive this deep-rooted issue, I’d like to underline three: an education culture problem, the absence of visible women leaders in the tech sector, and gender stereotypes. We need to recognise these issues and invest in each of them to encourage and motivate women to choose a career in tech. That being said, I believe a better question might be, how can we collectively work to improve women’s participation in the tech industry?
In a few words, I believe we can work together to motivate women to enter these fields by offering early entry points into computer science, encourage girls at school to continue studying computer-related fields, break down the “nerdy-white guy” stereotypes, and develop a more inclusive tech sector.
What’s your advice or message for young women who would like participate in the tech sector?
Don’t be held back by stereotypes, and force yourself outside of your comfort zone in order to learn as much as you can about how the tech industry works.
How can someone contact you?
I strongly encourage young women who are interested in technology to reach out or just come to one of our Meetups to get to know us! They are free and you can ask all the questions you have.
