Spotlight on #WomenInTech: Heloisa Simon
Heloisa Simon is a Senior Android Engineer in Customer Conversion team at Zalando. We have talked to her about making it in Software Engineering as a woman, the danger of stereotypes and how to dismantle them.
Heloisa, could you briefly introduce yourself and tell us what you do at Zalando.
I’m from Brazil, I have been living in Berlin for four years, and for almost four years, I’ve been working at Zalando. I am a Senior Android Engineer in the Apps team in Customer Conversion where we work with purchase features like checkout and post-purchase features like orders and returns.
What attracted you to software engineering in the first place?
When the time came to apply to the university, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to study. I was torn between Computer Science and Design. And though I decided for Computer Science, I didn’t really know what it was. I even did a web design course before the programme started to get a better idea of what awaited me. That was the first time I learned how to programme, and I instantly knew I liked it. I always liked the applied aspects of informatics, that’s why I chose to work with software development and app development. I really like creating something that I can see people use. I like getting this immediate feedback from users, which is also what I appreciate about working at Zalando.
Software engineering is still considered to be a non-typical setting for a woman to work in. Have you ever felt out of place?
Going through the university was difficult. My professors were biased against women. There was harassment. I graduated 10 years ago, and at that time there was very little discussion about gender discrimination in tech. I knew that something bothered me, but I couldn’t put a finger on what it was. So I spent the university years experiencing discomfort realising only later where it came from. Then I landed my first job. Luckily, it was a small startup with an amazing environment. I didn’t face any gender-related issues there. But I remember one time when I represented our company at an exhibition. I was in a booth and people would come by. And sometimes they would ask me if they could talk to a tech person — obviously they wanted to talk to a man, they expected a man to talk about tech. I felt brushed off. I think that it’s great that we talk more about these issues nowadays. At that small startup where I used to work, we launched a group for women in tech, just to share our knowledge and our stories. It was a great realisation that we all faced similar issues. And of course, since these were all-female meetings, we could talk more openly.
Are you part of any women’s networks at Zalando? And also, what does the company do to support women in tech?
I am part of Zalando’s Women in Tech group, which is a space for discussion where we can share our experiences as women in tech. The group aims to empower women to work together and achieve technical excellence, it also aims to support Zalando in attracting and retaining more women in technology and engineering careers. I think it also helps a lot that our leadership takes diversity seriously. Currently, Zalando works towards having at least 40% of women in senior leadership by the end of 2023. I have always felt welcome at Zalando. In my team, men and women are treated the same way. Women and men are equally involved in leading projects or driving architectural changes.
What do you think is needed to make the profession more open and more accessible for women?
I think that lack of women in tech is part of a bigger problem. I think it all starts in childhood when boys and girls are given different toys. While girls get Barbies, boys’ toys are centred on building something. Then teenage boys would play more computer games and get more familiar with technology. And so it continues across ages. I have noticed that when I tell people that I work in tech, men usually say “Nice. That’s cool”, and women go “I could never do that. For me, it’s a different world”. So I think what we really need to do is to show that tech is not that difficult, anyone could work in tech. Of course, we also have these stereotypes from popular culture — and it’s time they were dismantled.
Is there a piece of advice you could give to young women who are considering a career in software engineering?
Get out there. Join tech-related groups online or offline, participate in meet-ups. Talk to experts, seek support and mentorship. Technology is a really broad field, and you need to find what you like about it and focus. For example, I started with creating simple websites, and I enjoyed it a lot. Then I started learning more, I got to meet more people in tech. I decided that I liked app development more than web. So, my advice would be to find something that you are really passionate about.
