Creating Space for Women In Tech
Posted by Kate Pond
As Women’s History Month comes to a close, I find myself thinking not only about the amazing accomplishments incredible women have achieved over the years, but the support that must have been behind them.
Whether you’re talking about Hedy Lamarr who invented an early technique for spread spectrum communications and frequency hopping with her composer George Antheil, or Rita Levi-Montalcini who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discovery of Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) along with her colleague Stanley Cohen. I find, nine times out of ten, that it really does take a great team to create something great.
Searching for change
When I decided to change careers and pursue tech a little over year ago, I began to hear a lot about how unwelcoming and tough it could be in the male dominated industry. However, instead of focusing on all of the negatives, I joined a few meet-ups that focus on providing judgement-free tech education to women: Girl Develop It (GDI) and Women Who Code.
They needed space, and meltmedia had it
As I became more involved in these events, I learned that GDI needed space to hold some of their classes. While attending other tech meetups around the Phoenix area, I kept my eyes and ears open. That’s when I met the Director of Technology at meltmedia, Anthony Garone. When I mentioned to him that GDI was in search of classroom space, I was excited to learn that meltmedia often hosted other events in the community and would be happy to also provide GDI with space. I knew that this was a company I could enjoy working for, and spoke with Anthony about joining the melt team. To my pleasant surprise, he and the team said yes!
Coding with colleagues
Soon after, I started at melt where I found that one of the best things about working here is being surrounded by a brilliant and supportive team of both men and women. You read that correctly; I have women colleagues that code! Not only do they code, they’re really quite good at it. While not all tech companies have a culture that allows women to feel like themselves and encourages them to be the best that they can be, melt is doing better than most tech companies in the U.S. Over 40% of our team are women, and of those women, 27% are on the dev team. For me it’s not really about the numbers, it’s about the environment. Even though I’m constantly being challenged by those around me, I know that my colleagues at melt want to see me succeed.
The importance of support
A supportive team could be your family and friends or it could include your classmates and colleagues. For me, it’s all of those. One day, I hope that all the women in tech can feel as supported as I do by everyone around them. Until then, I’ll do all in my power to support other women in their goals to become equally successful in tech, and be thankful that I’m at melt where women are empowered to succeed.
If you’re interested in joining meltmedia’s team or learning more about us, visit our careers page!
