By Carley Wessler
Earlier this week, I wrote about gender experiences throughout my career, including the strong women I’ve encountered in jobs from education to manufacturing to now IT.
The first visual encounter I had when I entered the Convergent Technologies Group office was a picture of Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO Meg Whitman with CTG's two owners, John Monahan and Jeff Garell. According to Forbes magazine, Whitman ranks as the ninth most powerful woman in the world for 2016. That is no surprise, as she came up in the professional world by way of Hasbro, Walt Disney and EBay before joining HPE. Her voice is heard in many ways be it her position as CEO for HPE or as board member for SurveyMonkey, Procter & Gamble. When Whitman speaks, people listen. Her experience, poise, intelligence and ability to lead leave no doubt that she is paving the way for not just women in IT but in every discipline When I attended the Richmond Technology Council’s TechJam in July, the first thing I noticed was that I was only one of three women at our lunchtime event. Both the topic, “Cyber Security,” and the presenter, Jake Kouns, were engaging, and the program really made you think about how secure our homes, work and more truly are.
That afternoon, I went to the Carpenter Center for a viewing of “CODE: Debugging the Gender Gap” where the tables were turned as I was surrounded by women.
This rousing documentary draws attention to the void in the number of women software engineers and the reasons for that gap. The film focuses on the contributions women have made and the disparity of women in code. The film boasts: “There will be 1.4 million jobs in computing 2020. Twenty-nine percent will be filled by Americans – and 3% of that 29% will be filled by women.”
“CODE” features interviews with Danielle Feinberg, Pixar’s director of photography, and U.S. Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith. These two women provided incredible insight about their feelings of being women in their field and sharing what they believe it will take to close the gender gap in IT.
Right here in Central Virginia, we are tackling the future role of women in IT during RVATech/Women on Oct. 6. My female co-workers and I will attend this event, with some accomplished female speakers: Laishy Williams-Carlson, CIO, Bon Secours Health System; Joey Rosenberg, Global Business & Non-Profit Leader, Women Who Code; Jocelyn Mangan, Chief Product and Marketing Officer, SnagAJob; Karen Rheuban, Professor of Pediatrics, UVA Health System; and Yvonne Wassenaar, CIO, New Relic. I am looking forward to hearing from them and being surrounded by more outstanding and innovative women in IT at this event.
In the meantime, I come to work each day in a place where I am valued as an equal. With the help of my supervisors and peers at CTG I am able to further sharpen my skills and knowledge as not just a person in the IT field but as a woman in this industry. I believe, as a woman, that I have to take extra steps to be taken as seriously as men in a male-dominated discipline. I never want to leave the impression that I am anything less than the best at what I do. I do it for my family, and I do it for the women that came before me and those that we are paving the way for in the future. I smile each time I encounter another woman in IT and I feel pride as I encounter more and more female executives and CIOs.
All good things come in time, and each day I am leaving no doubt that I’m joining with other women to break down barriers in all professional arenas.
http://www.codedocumentary.com/
Carley Wessler is an account executive with CTG.
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