Women in Engineering: The story so far
I spent most of my childhood painting, writing stories, taking pictures, and travelling to new places. I had never quite given much thought to what I would become when I grew up. At the beginning of high school, as more and more people around me started charting out their career paths, I felt a sudden pressure to have to decide something for myself. Despite my artistic interests, I could only really envision my future self doing something within the science world.
At the time, physics was my favourite subject. I soon started picturing an older version of myself in a fancy lab coat, conducting even fancier experiments. I was convinced that physics was the field for me — I was going to be a scientist and make insane discoveries and change the world.
And then reality happened. As it turned out, I was just bad at physics. I loved every part of it, but not enough to put in the effort. At the end of the day, it was just another subject that I had to study for. This realisation was devastating for two reasons. Firstly, it meant that I had misjudged my capabilities, and even worse, my interests. Secondly, I had no idea what in the world I was going to do once I finished school.
Luckily, the universe had other plans for me: one of my teachers asked me to consider Computer Science as an elective for the final two years of my studies. ‘Nothing to lose’, I thought — let’s go. And then I fell in love. With programming, with the astonishing amount of logic involved, and above all, how easily it came to me. I never had to study for an exam. I never had to spend hours trawling through a textbook. Hell, I didn’t even own a textbook. Yet somehow, consistently, I was at the top of my class.
On the subject of my class, we were an oddly divided bunch. There were barely ten girls in a class of thirty five, and I happened to be the only one out of the ten who actually enjoyed coding. When I first joined the computer club at my university, I walked in to find that I was the only girl there. I would often have people ask me, “Do you really like programming or is it just a random thing you’re trying out?” I still remember what I used to tell them: “Why does that matter to you?” I don’t think any of those people had ill intentions; they were just intrigued. Seeing a woman in tech was probably rarer than finding a unicorn.
I spent the first 22 years of my life living in India, which, despite its technological advances, prides itself on holding on to its culture. Part of what this means is that we get a festival or two every other month, which comes with its fair share of great food. What it also means is that certain regressive traditions are upheld in the name of culture. Women often have to fight great lengths with their families, the society, and even themselves, to be allowed to take up education or work. I was fortunate enough to be raised in a part of the country where gender discrimination didn’t run as deep. My opportunities were never limited by the gender I identified with.
And yet, I felt limited. I was constantly reminded that I was going against the flow by choosing a male-dominated field. I was constantly reminded, through not-so-subtle hints, that maybe — just maybe — I wasn’t good enough. I couldn’t help but feel out of place. The norm dictated that I didn’t belong in tech as a woman, and it had fallen solely upon me to defy this norm.
It is easier said than done though, for the voice in my head had started to echo what everyone around me felt. I started doubting my own competence. It wasn’t a grand feeling, of course, and it was even less grand for a teenager with raging hormones. Life is hard when everyone judges you. Life is harder when you judge yourself. And that’s when it hit me: I wasn’t limited by other people’s thoughts and actions; I was limited by my own thoughts and actions.
This is not to say that the people around you have zero impact on you. What I mean to say is this: you don’t get to control what others say or do. You do, however, get to control how you react to that. You don’t get to choose what opportunities you get in life, but you do get to choose which of those opportunities you take.
And so, seventeen-year-old me decided to seize every opportunity that she could.
I went to university to get a Bachelor’s in Computer Science. I loved what I was studying but I didn’t just stop there. I started a club for coding enthusiasts in my tiny little college, hoping to get people from other disciplines to enjoy programming as much as I did. Dreading idle summers, I took up internships; dreading idle winters, I worked on projects of my own. I organised a couple of coding events and attended some as well. In doing so, I met a lot of people I otherwise wouldn’t have met. Meeting new people forced me to keep challenging myself with new ideas, and appreciate the many unique perspectives people bring to the table.
But I wasn’t done challenging myself just yet. In the fall of 2020, I decided to move half a world (I’m exaggerating, it’s only a quarter) away to the UK for my Master’s in Data Science. And if moving away from everything and everyone I’d ever known wasn’t scary enough, I managed to do that mid-pandemic.
I spent the next year of my life ploughing through a set of stressful modules and an even more stressful dissertation. During this time, I learnt a lot more than what my course had to offer. My flatmates were from all over the world, so I learnt about their cultures. No one was there to cook for me anymore, so I learnt how to cook without burning the food. And above all, I learnt how to manage my time so that I could work, cycle, read, and still get eight hours of sleep.
I joined Credera shortly after finishing my degree. I’ve been here just over a year now, and I’m currently working as a DevOps Engineer on my second client. Being in the early stages of my career, it almost feels like university minus the stress. I spend my days coding, nights playing the ukulele, and weekends hiking. I do have to admit though — I feel like I’ve picked up a lot more skills here than I ever did at university!
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My story might have been different had I conformed to the norm and given up programming simply because it was a male-dominated field. But I didn’t. I stuck with it — not because anyone told me to, but because I loved what I was doing.
So, here’s my advice to women wanting to get started in tech: do it because you want to be in tech. Nothing else should matter. Don’t ever let yourself be limited; the limit is where you set it to be. And of course, this advice extends to anyone wanting to get started in anything that’s slightly more unconventional than what the world expects of them. The path you take won’t be easy, but you will enjoy every single moment of it because you’ll be doing what you love.
And that’s it, that’s my story…
So far.
My journey hasn’t ended yet, and I’ve got a long road ahead. I’m sure there will be many more challenges and uncertainties, but I am excited to see what the future has to hold.
I hope you are too.
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