Eastern Europe is building the legacy for women in tech
Did you know that in 2018 Romania ranks second among the Eastern Europe countries with the highest percentage of businesses owned by women? According to the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs 28.9% of the businesses in the country have a female owner and Romania is over ranked only by Poland which has 30.3%.
“In these markets, although the social, financial, institutional and academic conditions for women are not always very favourable, women are able to leverage on opportunities available in their respective environments to be business owners and leaders and professionals/technical workers,” the report says.
Eastern Europe still has the highest proportion of senior roles held by women, 36%. This is 6% higher than its nearest rivals Africa and Latin America, according to a Research from financial services company Grant Thornton.
Tech is not a boy’s club anymore and it couldn’t be clearer in 2018. With companies trying to attract more women and changing the way they advertise their free positions the industry is on track for a change.
The reason for the difference between the countries in Eastern Europe and others is the country’s culture and values for the past 50 years. According to ZDnet,“the communist regime needed the workforce, so it did not allow mothers to stay at home and care for their children. Often, it assigned them jobs typically performed by men, such as welding, mechanical repairs or tool making” and that laid the foundation for today’s large proportion of women in tech.
“In the East Bloc, women as well as men were pushed into engineering and science occupations,” says Iva Kaneva a senior Python backend developer from Bulgaria.
In Eastern Europe you will also find amazing women working with or building start-ups. In top 50 most influential women in the startup and venture capital space made by Eu-Startups you will find entrepreneur and investors trying to change all aspects of life. Not one, but two of them joined Techsylvania for the 2018 editon. Kaidi Ruusalepp, Founder & CEO at Funderbeam and Steffi Czerny,Co-Founder & Managing Director at DLD Media are two of our speakers and you shouldn’t miss them on stage.
Kaidi Ruusalepp is a former CEO of Nasdaq Tallinn Stock Exchange and of the Central Securities Depository; Co-Founder of Estonian Service Industry Association; and Member of the Startup Europe Advisory Board at European Commission. A lawyer by education, she co-authored the Estonian Digital Signatures Act of 2000 — landmark legislation that enables secure digital identities and, in turn, the country’s booming electronic economy. Now, she has created Funderbeam, fueling the companies of the future on a blockchain-powered exchange.
Steffi Czerny is Managing Director of DLD Media and co-founder of DLD Conference as well as its global spin-offs like DLDwomen, DLD Tel Aviv, DLDcities, DLDnyc and DLDsummer.
Joining the Burda group in 1995, Steffi has held several executive positions in new media activities. Her background is in political sciences and communications. She has followed developments in the digital world for over 20 years and focuses on developing branding and communication initiatives.
Coming from Eastern Europe and making a dent in the startup world are also Kinga Stanislawska, the founder and Managing Partner of the Warsaw-based Venture Capital firm Experior Venture Fund, which manages PLN 80 million and has made 16 investments to date and Madeleine Gummer v. Mohl, the co-founder and CEO of Betahaus, a coworking space with offices in spaces in Berlin, Hamburg, Sofia and Barcelona. Madeleine is also the co-founder of the accelerator Hardware.co.
Worldwide only 17% of positions in the tech industry are filled by women. Few of us know that women hold key positions in one of the biggest companies all over the world. Here are a few examples:
- Belinda Johnson — COO Airbnb — She joined Airbnb 7 years ago as a general counsel and she played an important role in Airbnb’s negotiations with cities over rental rules
- Marne Levine — COO Instagram — The former Facebook VP of public policy oversees the American online social media and social networking service
- Diane Bryant — COO Google Cloud — Former Group President at Intel, Diane Bryant joined Google Cloud in 2017
The leading technology event in Eastern Europe, Techsylvania is also supporting women in tech.
“Techsylvania supports women trying to change the world since the first edition. This year we’ve decided to celebrate Women’s Day by offering anyone the change to register a woman they believe in for Techsylvania 2018! Initially we’ve announced 100 complimentary tickets, but we’ve received 50% more recommendations for women that would like to join the 5th edition. We are very happy that our community answered our call for signing up powerful women in such a big number. With so many great women joining Techsylvania and with lots of amazing female speakers already on the line-up, we promise to continue our commitment.” — Oana Petrus, Co-Founder & Executive Producer
Come meet Kaidi Ruusalepp, Steffi Czerny and many more amazing women at Techsylvania 2018! The 5th edition is taking place June 9–12! Book your ticket until April 2nd and catch the Early Bird discount €59 — Builder and €99 — VIP! Starting April prices will increase. Our regular tickets will be available at €79 — Builder and €149 — VIP.
