We, as women, have often faced an uphill struggle when making their way into the IT and Tech sectors. Not only is there a perceived bias in working in a male-dominated industry, but we must face the challenges of other demands around work — such as taking career breaks to have children or look after ageing relatives. The pressure of these additional duties have been felt acutely, and dispositionally, by us during the pandemic. In fact, studies have shown that women have simply had to do more. While becoming a Jill of all trades is admirable, it’s not sustainable.
The pandemic can, however, become a chime for change. Organisations must use it as an opportunity to actively re-address how they operate. Meeting the needs of women, and facilitating a doable work/life balance, has to be at the forefront of any changes made, to ensure that this sector is appealing for all.
Part of my remit is to ensure we are encouraging a diverse pool of people into the Cloudera fold. It is a mission of mine to attract more women into the sector and to showcase the amazing opportunities a career in tech can provide.
I believe women are inspired by others, so I want to share the stories of three female champions at Cloudera, from a range of backgrounds, who are paving the way for women in tech. They reveal how they ended up in their roles and what they want to see for future generations.
The Solutions Engineers – Kristel Sampson & Ana Gillan
Kristel Sampson originally wanted to be a pediatrician. However her childhood was spent fixing cars, and she has worked in the financial services industry, and is now a Cloudera solution engineer. Hobbies and career choices that were not ‘stereotypical’ for a woman growing up in South Africa, but all of which she excels at.
Kristel believes that often her challenge is that she is the only woman in the room. That in itself is not the challenge – but the fact that it’s applauded is. As she puts it, being the only woman is not an accolade. Instead, we need to look around the room and if we don’t see full representation, we need to ask the question, why? Questioning this, rather than just accepting it, helps us to understand what we need to do to change. The other ramification of men often dominating the room, Kristel suggests, is that by default women expect their male colleagues to champion and advocate for them in ways that women do not do for other women. She is a strong believer that we, as women, need to raise each other up more and shine a light on our achievements, not expect others to do this for us.
Another of our Senior solutions engineer’s Ana Gillan says: “I was always taught never to take ‘no’ for an answer”. Having come from an all-girls school and taking a university degree in languages, Ana’s path into the world of IT was far from typical. But that did not stop her from becoming the first woman in the technical team at Hortonworks (now Cloudera) in Europe.
Ana believes people do not necessarily realise that some careers are an option for them, because they don’t have the exposure or role models to give them that inspiration. She feels it is imperative that young girls are able to see people like themselves, doing jobs that they might not have considered, like IT or tech roles. Technology is all around children but subjects such as coding and logic need to be better introduced as part of mainstream education. Ana believes that if these subjects were to be incorporated in a fun and engaging way, with relevance to the real world, it would open up a world of job opportunities for young girls from an early age.
The Senior Director of Marketing – Anna Lewis
As a senior woman at a Director level, Anna Lewis is used to making her voice heard in an often male-dominated tech environment. Having moved to the UK from Russia, it was not only gender discrimination that has stood in her way, but she also experienced discrimination and cutural bias throughout her 25 year career in tech. Anna openly talks about her experience of discrimination that she has encountered, from people purposefully talking slowly to her when they hear her Russian accent, through to outright racism in the workplace based on her background. She shares her story in the hope others will learn from these instances and positive changes will be made. Anna is on a mission to raise awareness of discrimination and overcome biases in the workplace for future generations. Backed by the DE&I initiatives at Cloudera, she is paving the way for a better future for women in her sector — irrespective of background.
A Positive Future
There must be a place for diversity, equity, and inclusion diversity in every tech company. It is important to use days like IWD as a moment in time to spread awareness but then back this up with action — which is what I and my team at Cloudera intend to do. Businesses must ensure that the burden of diversity, and in particular gender diversity,is given proper consideration and changes are made that will encourage future generations of women into these sectors. And with the amazing team of women I have paving the way alongside me, I have no doubt that can become a reality.
