Although many may think of the technology field as predominantly male, there are many women making headway in this field.
Since September, I have been taking a night course to learn more about web design. As I look around the classroom, there is about an equal split of men and women. Despite the fact that my small group of web industry contacts consists mostly of women, which should dispel the myth that the technology field is predominantly male, we still think of a nerdy guy with glasses pounding at a keyboard when we think of people who work in technology.
To learn more about women and technology and how the industry has changed, I contacted software developer Jennifer Schachter, who is a new graduate in the field, and Kelly Lyons, head of IBM Toronto Lab Centre for Advanced Studies. She has been in the technology industry for 21 years.
“I always get a fun reaction from people when I tell them what I do,” Schachter says. “Society is conditioned to think of a developer as a guy with poor social skills and hygiene who spends every waking moment on the computer. I’m definitely not your typical computer geek. I like working with people more than computers. I don’t spend 24/7 on the computer.”
Schachter graduated with a computer science degree from the University of Waterloo two years ago. After graduating, she joined IBM.
“Every aspect of society today is impacted by technology and every field of study will continue to rely on advances in technology to enable true innovation,” Lyons says. “In order to truly innovate, we must bring many diverse perspectives together.”
Lyons, who graduated with a degree in computer science, wanted to become a professor, but ended up working for IBM instead. She took an educational leave to get her PhD, but returned to IBM in 1994. She is now the head of the Centre for Advanced Studies and has two children.
Although she does recall feeling out of place among her mostly male classmates, Schachter says working together hasn’t been an issue for her.
“Sometimes I felt out of place and wondered if I really should be in my program,” she says, although she adds that in the end she did prove she belongs and managed to graduate on the Dean’s Honours List. “Now, having done more reading about the issues facing women in technology, I know I was struggling with the feelings of self doubt that many women face. In fact, this phenomenon has a name — impostor syndrome.”
In 1978, psychology professor Pauline Clance and psychologist Suzanne Imes conducted a study, The Imposter Phenomenon Among High Achieving Women, which found their female clients seemed unable to internalize their achievements. They dismissed accomplishments and recognition and instead would attribute these to contacts, luck, timing, perseverance and personality. Men can also experience this syndrome.
For more on Women in Technology or to find out about their conference taking place tomorrow, visit https://www-927.ibm.com/ibm/cas/cascon/wit.shtml.
