Hayla Blacknell: Women in Technology
17 Oct, 2012
The tech industry is over indulged in men, but why? When we think of all those creative individuals behind the tech companies operating in the UK we often imagine the kind that are fixated on their computer screens, stuffing the domino’s in and washing it down with a can of something that fizzes.
Whilst this may be my personal opinion of the men I have met in the tech industry, this often seems to be the vast opinion of the female kind.
I must admit these men do put me off not from a sexual point of view but from a point that I fear their knowledge of all things geeky.
I recently attended a networking event held by a tech company in Shoreditch. It was one of those events where they loaded us onto a mini bus and drove us to a country house. I stepped onto the mini bus and I panicked – there were NO ladies to be seen and I was being driven to remote location where escaping really was not an option…… But why did I panic? Mainly because these men had glasses, were extremely hairy, and were already talking javascript, html, code from the word go… Personally, although I knew what they were talking about, I just felt like they would not take me seriously because I had bright lipstick, a flowing purple dress and flowers in my hair.
Well I was wrong, I ended up having one of the most enjoyable days of my career, it’s not who you are in the industry or what sex you are, if you generally enjoy chatting and meeting new people from such an innovative and creative industry then why, ladies do we shy away?
The days of the tech world being predominantly made up of geeky men are over. Future tech developments and products must be created to appeal to as many individuals as possible; this means that both genders must be envisaged within the design process.
Therefore both female and male for the future of this industry need to collaborate and share their knowledge, creativity and skills in order to establish a thriving tech industry.
So come on tech ladies get on out there, embrace your sexiness, start seeing through that hair, beer burping and grease and start getting creative together with our male counterparts!
