Question 1: What was it about the Women of Silicon Roundabout that first sparked your interest in attending?
Cosmina
The first thing that made me want to attend WINTech was the idea of a community of women interested in connecting and sharing their knowledge to help build bridges for new talent. Also, I was hopeful to find and connect with more women specifically in Product Design and discuss shared experiences as women in our field. The prospect of seeing a room full of women representing the top of their fields share their knowledge and advice was a huge motivator. I felt that it was going to have a great impact on me and provide fresh perspectives in how I approach and navigate career challenges.
Abbey
I was excited to meet more female engineers! The gender gap in the tech industry is largely weighted towards men, so I don’t often meet other women in my career. And, after scrolling the list of talks on offer I was keen to learn about topics I don’t come across in day-to-day working life like quantum computing. There were also talks on ways other women have coped with life experiences whilst working in the tech sector, such as miscarriage and health issues, like polycystic ovaries.
In short, I was eager to meet other women like me and listen to their experiences while working for a tech company like I do.
Joanna
Quite simply, being a woman in Tech and having the opportunity to meet other women in the same industry to learn from their experiences and also share my own. Throughout my career so far, I know just how hard it was to have that breakthrough moment into the tech industry and find a position that wasn’t just a ‘job’ but a career in something I love. I was keen to network and encourage women who may not have had their breakthrough moment (yet!) to keep chasing that career.
Question 2: Before we get into your experience of the event, have there been times in your career where you haven’t seen or felt sufficient female representation or influence in your industry?
Cosmina
Oh definitely! I feel like, in a way, I’ve become hyper aware of professional female representation. When I first began studying design, there seemed to be more of an even split in the field. But, as I narrowed my interest and professional focus towards product design and digital experiences, there seemed to be less and less women at the tables I was sitting at. The role models that are traditionally praised in the industry tend to be male so I’ve had to find my own sources of inspiration and seek out women with powerful voices to listen to.
There’s an inherent feeling that the Tech industry is, and has always been, male-dominated but that couldn’t be further from the truth; look at Susan Kare, Mary Wilkes and more recently people like Julie Zhuo. If we all worked to make tech more accessible and inclusive to women everywhere, how many more talented people like them could we help shape? I think representation is far from where it should be, just by looking at the amount of women I have been fortunate enough to meet and work with in my career so far. We have so much more work to do when it comes to lifting each other up and giving women a platform to be heard.
Abbey
Absolutely. Education wasn’t tailored for me to easily study the subject I needed for my current career path. I had to battle with my schools to be allowed to study my interests.
This always felt wrong – all students should be empowered with the choice to study what they want. Attending university, it became clear that it would be harder for female voices to be heard on my course; as one of 8 girls on a 70+ count course, I became the student representative to ensure we could express our thoughts.
To date, I haven’t had the opportunity to work alongside another female engineer, despite working for amazing companies, which I think really shows how weighted the gender gap is.
Joanna
Yes, 100%. I faced many workplace challenges in my first few years in the Design industry. Bad experiences, negative attitudes and a general lack of support. My voice often went unheard, and I never felt like I was an integral part of the team. As I grew within the industry and expanded my skills, gained experience & knowledge, I chose to channel these negative experiences into positive motivations to evolve and excel in my career. Thankfully, I am now in a position where I have great representation, with an influential manager who I have learnt massively from so far.
Question 3: What was the driving force behind choosing your industry?
Cosmina
The simplest way I can describe it is ‘usefulness’. I’ve always had a creative mind and liked making things from a very young age, but there’s a part of me that is very practical and analytical at the same time. Being drawn to product design felt like the most natural choice to me. I get to use my creativity and critical thinking to solve problems that impact people’s lives on a daily basis; the concept of that influence is very rewarding to me. I’ve always liked helping people and, as this is a crucial time in the transformation of digital experiences, what better place to leave my mark?
Abbey
My dad, also a software engineer, inspired me to get crafty on a Raspberry Pi. I was too young at that point to know about gender gaps and thinking about the working world, so my love for it had time to grow before determination kept me on the path. With my dad’s knowledge of the industry and my mum’s encouragement to get a degree to open career doors and progressing, I chose to learn a subject that I already knew I liked and could excel in, while also being interesting and potentially a little challenging
Joanna
I’ve always been a creative problem solver. My mind was grounded in problem solving and creativity from a young age through my two favourite subjects: Art & Design and Maths. Luckily, I had very supportive parents who encouraged me to do what I love, despite peers who said creative subjects were ‘easy’ and for people who weren’t smart enough. Going on to study Graphic Design at University, I found my love for digital design and the ever-changing Tech industry. I was motivated to be in a career where I could solve complex problems through creativity and influence a huge audience across digital platforms.
Innovation, technology, problem solving, and creative thinking to design intuitive digital experiences that influence users are all key drivers for me. Perfect for where I am now, at Aforza, designing cutting edge digital solutions for users across the world!
Question 4: Back to the event: were there particular speakers you were eager to listen to, or a brand whose female representation you were interested in speaking with?
Cosmina
There were a number of talks on the agenda that I was excited about, but most impactful for me was the ‘Digital Disappointment in Customer Journeys’ by Julia Petretta at InfinityWorks (a part of Accenture).
Julia is a Lead UX Designer and Service Design expert who is very passionate about closing the gap between the digital experiences we create and the expectations of our users. She discussed the stages of Digital Disappointment and how it can really affect business, as well as how cross-collaboration from teams can overcome these challenges and shape the idea tools for users.
The talk made me rethink my approach to several ongoing processes we have at Aforza and sparked a motivation to educate teams within the organisation about the cost of poor design. I was really glad to be able to share the knowledge further.
Abbey
I listened to a fantastic talk involving a panel of 3 engineers who detailed their experiences through their engineering careers and imparted advice on how to level-up at each stage. Their advice was invaluable because it was specific to being a female engineer; how we can speak up, be heard and excel.
Joanna
There were so many great speakers at the event, I actually found it hard to choose between speakers as some of them overlapped and so many of the talks sounded interesting and insightful! I would say a top 3 would include Deliveroo: ‘How to Scale at Pace in a Battle for Talent’, InfinityWorks’ ‘Digital Disappointment in Customer Journeys’ and Just Eat’s ‘Who Is Product’?
At the Deliveroo talk, I was super excited to gain insight and learn about how they handled their recent rapid hiring process and how this allowed them to build such a skilled team of creatives to design and build such a great brand and product. At Just Eat, The concept of looking at ‘Product’ as a person, to imagine them, and what that image means to you was a very interesting and unusual concept to visualise. To hear past experiences from Manasi Bhalerao early on in her career was something that resonated with me. This talk was very inspirational and I took away some valuable life lessons which I plan to carry forward.
Question 5: What was one major personal and one major professional takeaway for you from the event?
Cosmina
On a professional level, it was a very empowering experience going there with my team and being able to share this event with Joanna but also to learn that a lot of other organisations and hiring managers were dealing with similar challenges in the aftermath of the pandemic.
Personally, it meant that I could be inspired by the success of all of these amazing women I was fortunate to meet and share this experience with. It felt very validating to discuss with colleagues from other companies and touch on important topics that have a deeper impact on women. There were discussions around the cost of having children, how it can impact your career timeline, how leadership representation for women is still thin and how we can be more vocal about women’s issues in the workplace to make tech a more welcoming place for women.
Abbey
I jumped at the chance to attend this convention and then attending and having such a brilliant time affirmed the fact that I would jump twice as high to go again.
Personally, I learnt that there is a well established support network ready to listen and support me should I reach out. Even if I’m the only female engineer at a company, or in my niche sector, it doesn’t mean that I don’t have caring people and aid there to help me should I struggle. Social media, like LinkedIn, allows me to connect easily with others. Conventions, like the Women of Silicon Roundabout, enable me to network and learn. Fantastic organisations, like Girls Who Code, encourage newcomers to the sector and expand the network.
Professionally, it helped me to realise that despite the fact that being anything but a man in the technology sector will most likely make your journey more difficult, it doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t try. Being a woman in tech doesn’t need to be a barrier – if it’s your passion, interest and goal, stepping onto the path will tip the scales that little bit to make way for a fairer journey for the person just behind you.
Joanna
Being a part of an event like this was a huge personal achievement for me on many levels, and it was even better that I was able to do this with the support of Aforza. Attending an event like this to network and gain support from industry leading women in tech was very inspirational. I strive to progress and succeed in my career and being part of this event gave me a huge amount of confidence and motivation for the future.
The event showed me to always believe in myself and never settle for less – don’t let anyone tell you otherwise! It was so refreshing to be in a room of like minded professionals who wanted to connect and share their knowledge.
Question 6: Finally, how did attending the event cause you to view Aforza’s own diversity structure?
Cosmina
Honestly, I’m always rooting for more women to join Aforza across different departments of the organisation. I certainly appreciate the presence of amazing women in leadership and on our board of directors, while also thinking that we can be more balanced than we are currently. With that in mind, tech as a whole is struggling to find the right candidates for available positions right now and we are committed to keep our company a welcoming environment for women.
Abbey
Turning to the future, I look forward to championing everyone and anyone into the tech sector, and being a part of Aforza’s growth and culture evolution.
Joanna
Empowering women is incredibly important and it certainly hasn’t happened enough throughout the Tech industry. Attending WINT made me feel empowered as a woman in tech and I feel very passionate about influencing and encouraging anyone into the tech industry, no matter what your background.
Aforza has given me huge support to do what I love, and I know we are always looking for skilled individuals across the board. Come and join our team and evolve with us!
