How do Women Face the Obstacles in Tech
Nobody said it was easy until we succeed to break it
Technology is something we can’t avoid nowadays. Some companies need IT engineer to support their businesses, they need the internet to get more revenues and do some promotions, also they need someone who is capable of their network infrastructure.
As a woman, we also want to take a place to those IT positions. Yes, most of us able to be in finance, digital marketing, and some of us also want to be an engineer.
We know that we are able to understand more about technologies just the same with the men. To be in advance, we just sometimes face obstacles in tech. Here is what and how to face it.
Challenges
Where can I find a mentor?
Woman tend to be with her (also female) friends. When we don’t know something about tech, we asked each other, and we don’t find the exact answer.
Sometimes, we need a mentor that could tell, guide, and teach us from the basic until the further concept of IT. We found out, the one who able to do that thing is most likely from the male friends. And, connecting from the differences between how do woman and men think is the thing we also should be able to solve.
So, sometimes, finding the right mentor for us requires more time and connections.
My friends don’t have the same interest as me in tech
“I want to know more about data analyst, but my friend wants to know more about UX research, and another one of my friends want to know more about the website development”
When women don’t have the same interest as each other, we don’t think we can study and solve the problems together. Some of us left and some decided not to continue learning about tech.
Tiredness from learning logic, watching tutorials on YouTube, also when we don’t have the same interest feels like it will demotivate ourself. Anyway, for some woman, if we don’t have the same interest is like there’s nothing connected to talk about.
I’m insecure about the pros
As a new learner, women still have the same energy as another female new learner in tech. But, when we start to see the pros, we start to feel inferior. The mental blocks are coming and whisper, “You need study really hard about this. You have no time to hang out with your friends. You must be really good at logic…,” and etc.
My devices don’t support me
Before knowing tech and its complexity, all we know is creating a PowerPoint slide, writing using Microsoft, and it works on our kind of ordinary laptop. But then, we start to code, do some configurations using various software and a hello-blue screen appears on our screen. That’s the time that we know our device doesn’t support the work.
How to Face It
Figure all the challenges that probably come into your life when you want to start to dive into the technologies
It’s always a good start when you have the will to study something including technologies.
To keep motivate your mind, you can list down all the obstacles you probably have to deal with on the next day. Such as:
- I may be in an environment full of male friends. (And, that’s ok)
- I may need an advance device to support my study. (You still can join with your friend. It depends on what tech you will learn, and how hard the level is. Not every tech studies require a high system requirement in the first time)
- I may not have the same topic as other girls. (You can share what you’ve learned about tech to your friends and give them the new insight into tech)
Even you still haven’t figure how to overcome it, at least you have a small picture and make it prepared for yourself.
Join a helpful community and find your joy
Joining a community that has the same vision as yours will actually help. You will get the vibe and motivate you to be a better learner. You can also find the ‘match’ mentor so you can ask for guidance for learning further about tech.
Just be yourself in the community and be an active member. It will bring more benefits to you in the future.
Just keep going
“Just keep swimming,” said Dory.
It is the best quote ever to keep you going ahead. Some quotes on the internet said, “Never quit.” Just remember your first vision to be capable in tech. When you succeed to reach it, you will break the stigma of “Women don’t do logic.”
For any women who still survive to learn about tech and become a tech geek, you are amazing. You can break the stigma and you are powerful. No matter what obstacles you have for studying tech, just keep going.
Nobody said it was easy until we succeed to break it.
