The Get Inspired Series
The debate on Women & Technology seems to be ongoing. In 1986 at the European Conference on Women, Natural Sciences & Technology, a series of books was produced based on the topic of ‘Women Challenge Technology’. And still in 2009, the debate continues, no less inflammatory and still as provoking.
In order to change the debate from one of “yes, we can” and “no, you can’t”- into a “yes, we do”, The NextWomen is running a series of stories featuring women in tech and the inspiration that led to pursue careers in the industry.
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| Actually it was purely by chance (that I got into Tech) – I had graduated from University with a degree in maths & Geography. I was enrolled to do a teacher training conversion course when I saw an advertisement in the national press for trainee Programmers. I applied on a whim, sat the aptitude test and passed.. Read more… |
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If there was any one person, it was probably my father. He was (and is) the kind of person who recited Keats while changing the engine in a 1960s mini, and was the kind of photographer who thought you were some kind of idiot if you didn’t understand your apertures and your f-stops – he showed me that you could be technical *and* arty. Read more… |
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| Tech is a high-change, high growth market so if you like to thrive, reinvent and grow, tech lends itself to that. Because of this rate of change, they are also one of the least hierarchical types of business because they need to move fast to win. That gave me huge opportunities to raise my hand, take on new challenges and contribute without putting in years and years before my ideas would have merit. Read more… |
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I went to work for KPN in the i-mode team (i-mode was one of the earliest forms of Internet access on mobile phones pioneered by the Japanese mobile operator NTT DoCoMo) because they had a very good training program. That’s really where I got my education as a junior marketeer and mobile service developer. Read more... |
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| I’m fortunate to have had great exposure to – and access to – technology early in life. When I was very young, my mother was an executive at Control Data. I remember being excited to go to work with her on a Saturday morning and seeing –and hearing –computers that took up most of a room.. Read more… |
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I would urge people to look beyond the Geek image of the sector and understand the wide range of jobs and career paths available to technologists and business people who understand technology. Read more… |
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| Ciara Byrne has worked on every aspect of software: defining technical standards, creating new product concepts, developing the software and explaining it to customers. Currently she is a Director of DRM Standards at SafeNet, and in her spare time writes for The NextWomen and TechCrunch. Read more… |
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My mum has worked in IT for 30 yrs. She still does at 64. I got a glimpse of how exciting the industry can be and supportive of women’s careers even those with kids. My grandfather wouldn’t send my mother to university, there was limited money and only her brothers were sent. Read more… |
