Breaking the Glass Ceiling: What it Means to Be a Woman in the Technology Sector
Women working in STEM have to deal with its longstanding lack of diversity and inequality. ISEmag reports that the number of women technologists in the tech workforce worldwide is less than 25% although women take up 46.6% of the total workforce but this difference is just the tip of the iceberg. From stereotypes that discourage young women from considering career paths in the technology sector to the discrimination once they do pursue these careers, it’s no wonder many female tech professionals look around at meetings and conferences to find themselves the only woman in the room.
But, things are changing and here at TinkerHub, we are committed to building a more inclusive student community by giving them opportunities to learn new technological skills, enabling them to become an integral part of the twenty-first-century workforce.
So this month for the TinkerHub story, we’d decided to feature a very accomplished woman technologist, Ganga Manoj — Software Developer at Frappe and an Executive Member of the TinkerHub Foundation Board.
Ganga has a very interesting story to share — Read about her life in tech, learning path, and how being a woman has influenced her career.
Hello Ganga 😄 Can you tell us about yourself?
Hi, I’m Ganga. After an incredibly anti-climactic graduation last year (2020 batch, where you at?), I started working as a software developer at Frappe. When not coding, my post-pandemic self can usually be found curled up in bed, walled in by my books and my laptop. (Pre-pandemic Ganga actually had a life, but today, you’ll have to deal with post-pandemic Ganga lol) 😅
How did you start out with coding and communities?
Although engineering is pretty much the default option for most students in India to fall back on, it wasn’t really something I could see myself doing as a kid. I was good at math and such, but I was more of the literary sort. I’d started coding in the eighth grade and I loved how intellectually stimulating it was, which eventually led me to gravitate towards Computer Science engineering at Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology, Kottayam.
Everyone around me had advised me to pursue literature or law or journalism, but I’d decided against it. If I’m being very frank, I did wonder for a pretty long time if I’d made the wrong decision- because while I did find coding interesting, I was worried about pigeonholing myself, and to top it off, I found the coursework in college thoroughly uninteresting.
But sometime in my first year, a senior of mine, Gopikrishnan Sasikumar reached out to me with the idea of starting a chapter of TinkerHub in college. He wanted to know if I knew of any first-year students who might be interested in helping him out, and I thought- Hey, I’m a first-year student. I’m interested.
This was roughly five years ago, before anyone in college had even heard of TinkerHub. I’d honestly just signed up because I was bored out of my mind, but in retrospect, that was incredibly serendipitous.
All of a sudden, my work wasn’t restricted to the drudgery that was first-year engineering coursework. I was donning every hat I could find- I was writing, editing, coordinating events, partaking in panel discussions. My worries about restricting myself were finally put at ease.
How did you go about getting the job?
The idea of graduating from college and stepping out into the real world is nerve-racking enough, but doing it right when people were losing their jobs left, right and centre? Not fun. I was lucky enough to have a few job offers, but I didn’t find them very exciting, but considering how rickety the job market was with the onset of the pandemic, I wasn’t quite sure what to do.
As luck would have it, Mehar MP reached out to me then, telling me how he thought I’d be a great fit for this startup called Frappe. He told me a little about the company and their hiring process, and I was intrigued. They didn’t follow the usual hiring process. We were asked to build a web app and share the link to our repo on GitHub. If they like your code, they’ll invite you for an interview. I remember that my interview was surprisingly fun- we ended up spending half the time discussing books!
Tell us a little about your current role
Right now, I spend most of my time contributing to ERPNext, which is Frappe’s flagship product. One really cool thing about the product is that it’s entirely open-source, meaning that everything I do is out there for the world to see. We work almost entirely on public repositories on GitHub.
What do you appreciate the most about working at Frappe? How is it different from the average entry-level job?
I think what sets it apart the most is the sheer amount of freedom we have. We’re treated as valued members of the team and our opinions are taken seriously right from day one. The company follows a democratic structure, where anyone is free to propose any change they’d like to see in the way it’s run. The proposal is then discussed and voted upon during our company-wide Town Hall called Friday Forum.
We also don’t have fixed timings for work or a restrictive hierarchy of managers breathing down your neck. There’s a lot of focus on maintaining a proper work-life balance. Burnout is taken very seriously- you’ll often see senior devs step in and ask you to slow down if they see you working too much. We’re strongly encouraged to make time for hobbies, and we even have a book club now!
Learning path
I have a pretty short attention span- very few things are capable of sustaining my interest for long, so I end up sticking my thumb into far too many pies. I’ve tried learning everything from game dev to ML to AR, but I rarely spend more than a few months on the same thing. It worked out well for me but honestly, I wouldn’t recommend it. Pick a stack and stick to it, kids.
Right now, I’m into web dev, which I find quite surprising considering it never piqued my interest in college. But I like the instant gratification it brings, seeing the things you build materialize so quickly. I normally watch videos on YouTube or Coursera, or read the official documentation for whatever I’m trying to learn, and then try building stuff using what I’ve learnt.
I think the question that deters most people, including yours truly, from starting learning is- where do we even start? You see all these huge courses that take weeks to complete and fancy projects that seem way too complicated for you to figure out and feel very overwhelmed. I think the best advice I’ve gotten in that regard is just to start somewhere. I’ll build on that and say, maybe start with something that provides quick gratification. It could be building small games, designing UI or building a personal website. Whatever tickles your fancy. For the quick dopamine hits, I also recommend using competitive coding sites like HackerRank.
Do you feel that women have the same opportunities as men in STEM?
Obviously not. Women are a minority in tech. You notice it immediately at the college level, and it’s the same when you start working.
It starts right with hiring. This one time when I was in my third year, a company came to our college for placements. There were more candidates that got through to a particular level than was expected, and the solution they came up with was- ‘Let’s get rid of all the female applicants.’ And they always give the same reasons- girls tend to leave their job after a couple of years when they get married or have a baby, thereby making them a liability.
However, not all companies in the tech industry are bad. Some are fairly progressive. I have been fortunate enough to work for one that strives to create an inclusive environment.
Could you tell us a little about TinkerWomen?
In my second year of college, we had this WhatsApp group for our college chapter of TinkerHub. It was extremely active — people had lively discussions about the goings-on in the tech verse — but we soon realized that the women in the group were oddly silent.
That’s when we had the idea of setting up a wing exclusively for women. We called it TinkerWomen. It was more of an experiment, really, to help figure out why the women weren’t participating much- even though these were definitely bright, educated women with plenty to say- and to find out what we could do to help.
What do you think caused the low female participation?
Honestly, the patriarchy, I guess. Our society socializes most women to not speak up and not be confident in their skills despite being pretty talented. It’s a systemic problem that is not specific to my college, or even to STEM. But it is more prevalent in STEM.
When they did have a space to speak up, the girls spoke up. We could see that they were interested and had a lot to offer. They had a lot to say but didn’t feel comfortable expressing themselves in most spaces. We decided to dissolve TinkerWomen a year later after we felt that everyone had gotten to a point where they felt a little more secure in the knowledge that there wasn’t much to be intimidated about.
Are you optimistic about the future for women in tech?
I’d like to be optimistic. We’re definitely getting better. There’s more of a focus on the need for inclusivity in the tech space because of all the evidence demonstrating that diversity produces better work outcomes. It’s great to see incredible opportunities and programs out there to keep encouraging this. Then again there are still attitudes that need to be changed — but it’s a process. The more that women enter the tech field, the more likely that attitudes will change for the better.
What advice would you give to women who would like to start a career in tech?
One thing I noticed throughout my experience of being involved in communities in college, is that I have been the only female in a meeting more times than I could count. When I was younger, I used to find that quite intimidating. I was second-guessing everything I wanted to say because when you’re the only woman in such a space, it’s almost like any judgment passed on you would reflect on all women. You feel like you’d be judged, not just as yourself but also as a representative of all women. So it was quite daunting. But what you notice after a while is, it’s mostly just a matter of confidence. After a few years, it occurred to me that these people might be speaking but they weren’t making a lot of sense. A lot of them were saying stupid stuff very confidently!
I love this quote —
When I saw Oprah interview Michelle Obama, Oprah asked how Michelle got over feeling intimidated sitting at big tables filled with smart, powerful men and Michelle said, “You realize pretty quickly that a lot of them aren’t that smart.”
I remember reading this quote when I was younger and thinking that was just Michelle Obama being Michelle Obama. It didn’t really resonate with me. But when I came across it again at age 19 or 20- you know that feeling when you see something in print and you think, I couldn’t have put it better myself?
So for advice, I would say, I understand that it’s very difficult to speak up when you’re the only woman in a room full of men- but keep doing it anyway. It might take you a while to get to the level of confidence Michelle Obama’s at, but I promise you, it will be an incredibly rewarding experience.
As an individual, what you can do is just show up more. I understand that it’s extremely difficult. I remember how girls would often speak at our events about how difficult it is to get parental permission to attend events in different cities. My parents were the same; they used to ask for a multitude of details every time I’d head out for an event. But after a while, they realized that I handle myself well enough for them to not have to worry about me so much.
Women in leadership roles
Like I said before, I have been the only female in far too many meetings and I remember how difficult that was. But I hoped that my being there might make it more comfortable for the next woman who’d show up. The more women come in, the more comfortable it will be.
I was recently going through this article about how work from home is adversely affecting working women, especially mothers. They continue to handle the bulk of the domestic work while balancing their jobs- a problem most men don’t seem to deal with and therefore, understand less. Having more women in leadership roles could lead to the creation of more compassionate policies that allow for more flexibility, which will ultimately benefit everyone.
The truth about finding the first engineering job
If you’ve studied in an engineering college in Kerala, you’ve probably noticed that the pay offered by most companies for freshers isn’t that great. It might be enough to get by, but not enough to live comfortably on. So people often tend to go after the companies that offer more money, even if the job description doesn’t excite them. I’ve seen people applying for placement drives without even checking the job description properly.
If you have the privilege of leading a fairly comfortable life without having to deal with any pressing financial issues- no educational loans to pay off, no family to support- I’d say you should focus more on finding a job that’s suited to your skills and interests than one that pays well. The initial years of your career are meant more for exploration than watching your bank balance grow. I know, it sucks that you often have to choose between the two, but such is the world.
Also, a lot of companies prefer to keep their workforce small and hire through referrals these days, so building a decent network is important, especially if you’re stuck in Tier II/III colleges. Getting involved with student communities is a great way to do this.
Does CGPA really matter?
Well, it will matter if you’re going for higher studies. When it comes to getting a job, we always hear about that chetan/chechi with 10 supplementary exams who got the fanciest job in college, but people like that are a rarity. So in case you aren’t ‘that chetan/chechi’, try getting a decent CGPA. Even campus placements have cutoffs, so aim for at least an eight and don’t go below a seven.
Don’t really be disappointed if you feel like your college doesn’t provide you with ample opportunities. I’ve probably attended more events in other districts than I’ve attended ones in my own college. Everyone may not have the privilege, or the financial means to do this, but if you can afford to, definitely try it. Student communities in Trivandrum, Kochi, and Kozhikode are super active, so you’ll probably find every month just a few hours away.
What next?
Honestly, I have no clue. I don’t really want to think that far ahead right now. I’m a rather fickle being and I know that the things I’m interested in right now, I might not find that interesting in, say, six months. So I don’t think there is much of a point in figuring out a learning plan unless you’re planning to build something specific. Plus, tech follows trends just like every other field and is rapidly evolving. I’ll just wait and see what the future holds.
One last word
Focus on building a decent GitHub profile. Contributing to open source is a great way to start. Keep in mind that it’s always better to have one project that clearly illustrates that you know what you’re talking about than five certificates claiming that you might have expertise in it.
Oh and, don’t be shy, show off a little. Build a personal website. Tell your friends about that cool thing you’re working on, so the next time someone asks them if they know someone good at it, they can send them your way. Join a community or two. Share what you’ve learned, learn some more, and repeat.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us Ganga!
We hope you had a great time reading Ganga’s story 😄
This TinkerHub story was brought to you by — Fathima Nihla Latheef, Shwetha Sasindran and KJ Gopika from the TinkerHub Team! If you loved reading this post, show your appreciation by clapping below! Stay tuned to us for more reads on learning, building and collaborating.
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