What does being a Woman In Tech Mean – By Stephanie Sweeney
I’m currently writing this sat in my spare bedroom which I have had to convert to a home office as the Corona Virus outbreak has taken over the UK.
Now I know that this is a terrible time to be in business and Marketing as work is non-existent at this time, but then I sit here writing a blog and working on the company’s website and realise that this is one of the reasons I got into tech.
Flexible working
The great thing for the tech industry is that we can keep on going. We may have no money coming in, but we can keep on working unlike most industries. Now the corona virus is its own thing, but it does highlight the resilience of the tech industry.
Now in the (normal world) that’s what I’m calling it now, this really helps women. It allows us to continue to do things like have a family, stay home with children when they are ill. Relocate easily and even pick things up when we are away or not at the office. This ability to allow flexible working is a great for us as women. This is also the same for men and can help modern people manage their very busy lives.
Why Tech?
Most will wonder why tech. We all know it’s still mainly male dominated so why would women want to choose it and take on the challenge of braking through. Simply why not. As one of the business owners I have championed women joining the business in every role we have. Code doesn’t care what your gender is so why should women not be able to build websites. Men can put together designs for female based businesses so why wouldn’t women be able to design for all industries to. All of these are complete misconceptions and Blue Whale Media is bucking the trend and I am very proud to have taken on our first female web design apprentice this year (and heads up she is awesome!)
What are the challenges?
It’s hard for me to answer this one as I don’t believe anyone faces challenges working at Blue Whale Media Ltd. But I would probably suggest that the main challenges for women in tech probably don’t come from the company they are working for but mainly the clients they are trying to sign up or work with. Across the world there are still certain industries that struggle more than other. As an industry that mainly works around working with another company as a customer this would be where I think women would struggle. But as I said this rarely happens anymore.
Conclusion
This will be a difficult year for tech, and more so small businesses, we all know that. But tech is already showing up to this fight back and to all you tech people out there working on your knee or with the kids screaming around you, I thank you for your commitment to the industry and to getting women into an amazing industry. Well done to you! Stay strong, Stay Safe, Stay home, Stay well.
Operations Director
Blue Whale Media Ltd
