The Future of Tech is Female
The late Ruth Bader Ginsburg once said, “Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.” Yet it could take 12 years before women see equal representation in tech. Why is this a cause for concern and why should more women look towards tech for their dream careers?
With over two decades of experience in various tech roles at global banks, Soh Siew Choo, Managing Director and Group Head of Consumer Banking and Big Data/AI Technology at DBS, has blazed the trail as a female technologist. She shares insights on why women should take up more roles in tech, and the kind of real impact and transformation women can create with a rewarding career in technology.
Forbes recently quoted a 2020 Statista article — among several of the prominent U.S. tech companies that self-report employment figures, women occupy fewer than one in four tech roles. What’s the ideal equilibrium that you would like to push for in terms of women being represented in the tech industry?
The world is made up of roughly 50:50 men and women. Given this, I believe that is the ideal equilibrium as it represents proportional access to the available talent pool, which will eventually bring about the best possible ideas.
Why do you think it’s still necessary to have to motivate more women to join the tech industry, since gender balance is more recognised in many workplaces these days?
Given that every industry is becoming digital, every company is becoming a “tech company”. Thus, motivating more women to take up tech roles and join the tech industry is a practical solution to the talent scarcity we are experiencing today. Although we’ve seen some improvements in the proportion of women enrolling in STEM education and participating in tech roles, we are still far from achieving balanced representation with our current average of 25%. More importantly, progress in this regard has been glacial in the last few decades. Hence, significant effort is still required to motivate more women to actively join and participate in tech industries.
You’ve been a longstanding champion for women in tech. What do you think are areas in which women have an advantage over men in this industry?
Jack Ma once said that he wishes to be born as a woman in his next life as he believes that women will be more successful in the future. He has attributed the success of Alibaba partially to the 34% representation by women in its senior ranks.
The world today places much emphasis on the creation of great experiences — this is something that I believe plays to the strengths of women. Generally, women perform better than men when it comes to taking the softer approach and paying attention to details, both of which are key to creating great user experiences.
Young students today are already exposed to the world of technology. How do you foresee (or what would you like to see in) the trend of gender representation within the tech industry in 10 years?
Recently, I read an article on the experience of a recent female graduate from my alma mater, the Faculty of Computer Science at the National University of Singapore. The rather sad fact is that her experience in terms of gender representation was not very different from mine, even though I had graduated more than two decades ago. Having said that, given current trends, I have immense hope that representation in the tech industry will improve vastly in the next few years, as tech is becoming such a pervasive and integral part of all industries. The participation of women in tech will eventually become inevitable, and perhaps even a pre-requisite. Successful companies will recognise that helping women succeed in tech roles is not merely a moral obligation but part and parcel of their own survival.
Among the 15 tips that Forbes listed for women in tech to take their career to the next level were advice like “Break through your mental ‘glass ceiling’” and “Advocate for yourself — to yourself”. To what extent do you think a psychological barrier is a hindrance to the career progression of women in tech? Or are there other major factors that need to be overcome?
Women in tech need to work twice as hard for equal recognition or just to be heard. In most cases, they are in the minority, and the environment is not created to be inclusive to them. Inherent biases, whether conscious or unconscious, are ever present. The lack of role models and allies is another barrier. Hence, as a woman, one needs to build an above average level of self-confidence, grit and resilience to stand a chance at shattering the proverbial “glass ceiling”.
You’ve had an illustrious career in technology at two major global banks. What motivated you to pursue a tech career in the banking industry, and how did you drive your success?
I chose to study Computer Science when it was still considered as a novel discipline, because of my passion for logic, mathematics and the ability to make an impact through software. One decade later, Marc Andreessen wrote an essay in The Wall Street Journal which declared that “software is eating the world”.
I had always thought that I would take up a role in a tech company upon graduation, until I learnt about how banks were using technology extensively even back then. Two decades later, I have never looked back. Banking is one of the most technologically advanced industries. As a young software developer, I was immensely empowered to drive major change and transform the financial industry via technological innovation. For instance, in early 2000, I led a team that built an algorithmic trading system for equities (hosted completely on Linux). It freed up the time of our sales traders, enabling them to support their clients better with better performance in trade execution.
Throughout my entire career, I have been fortunate to be given many opportunities to lead multiple teams and drive many interesting and major transformations for businesses across multiple locations, including Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. These assignments were often challenging and at times risky, but they helped broaden my experience and perspectives in an accelerated way. The willingness to take on difficult assignments and venture into the path less travelled, as well as successful execution, were key to me gaining the respect and trust of my team. This led to even more opportunities being opened up to me.
What is your philosophy towards innovation?
I believe that innovation is not a special event or separate department in an organisation. Innovation is part and parcel of our everyday approach to solving problems and bringing value to the table. I believe that you always start with the question of how you can totally transform or disrupt what you do. It is about how you think about something — it is not about making incremental change, but about completely reimagining the solution to the problem statement and creating an exponential outcome. That to me is innovation.
Any final advice you have for other women who are looking to pursue a career in technology?
Despite having pursued a career in tech for more than two decades, I continue to totally enjoy every single minute of it. There is never a dull moment in tech. The continuous evolution of our technological landscape provides me with the opportunity to continue to learn, unlearn and relearn. You will never be done learning; as the saying goes in tech, you will always be in a state of “permanent beta”. Don’t believe in the myth that tech is only for geeks; it is a career that is challenging and impactful, and will definitely be a rewarding one for anyone interested in making in the impossible, possible.
In a world where women continue to be underrepresented, DBS has been focused on building an inclusive workforce that provides equal opportunity and growth. To drive the representation of women in technology, the bank is launching DBS Women in Tech 2020 — a specially curated hiring event that identifies the best female talent in tech. Are you a female technologist with a passion for driving innovation? Sign up by 27 October 2020 to craft your dream career, drive digital transformation and redefine banking.
