Women In Tech - Advice from Female Software Engineers

We asked a group of experienced Software Engineers what advice they would give in the hope that it will inspire young women thinking of starting out, or women who are trying to find their way against the odds.

Tuuli is an Engineering manager / Senior Software Engineer at Famly.

She says “Find your niche, work on things you believe in, and surround yourself with people who will coach you - people from whom you will feel comfortable receiving honest feedback. You don’t have to do anything alone - it’s easy to find communities to support you e.g. on Discord or Slack, or through a local meetup. The key is to find a place where the product is something you can get genuinely excited about, and where the people will support you and celebrate your growth.”

Kseniia is a Staff Engineer at Archieve

Kseniia says "Ensure you start from basics of Computer science: data types and structures, algorithms, databases, etc. There are a lot of different courses on Coursera, Udemy, etc. Similarly, it’s worth trying bootcamp or software engineering courses (which have a program “from beginning” if it’s necessary).

But most importantly…practice! More practice. Do code, solve problems (leetcode, hackerrank), design databases and systems. Do own pet projects."

Andrea Moruno is a Team lead at AutoScheduler.io

Andrea says “I would say, just start coding. It is currently easier to get access to any video, course or any topic. We just need curiosity, patience, and discipline."

"I see Tech as the best opportunity for growing personally and economically. Because I live in Latin America I can see all the problems with women and poverty, but even in other countries in Europe or North America, Tech careers are very hiring and pay well. Also I see you just need to invest in a computer and internet which currently are costing lower and lower. If a woman really wants to be independent, gain her own money, achieve her dreams, choose between a partial or full time job, and even a remote job, then a Tech career is definitely a good path.”

Nychol Bazurto Gomez is Director of Engineering from 47 Degrees.

Nychol says “I think a good start it’s looking for communities, especially Women in tech ones, not because we need to be in a bubble, but because it’s easier to be surrounded by people that understand and support us. Once there, give it a try to different things, you’re going to start discovering if you’re more like a backend vibe, frontend, or DevOps. You can always tailor your talent to a different area. Look for free courses/conferences, if you don’t have access to formal education, you can learn a lot on your own. However, I know from my country's reality that it’s not that easy for everyone to get access to this virtual content and I hope it stops being a barrier at some point.”

“I made a mistake in my career that cost me a little mental peace. I wanted so badly that my gender didn’t matter at my workplace, that I ended up associating my femininity and vulnerabilities with something bad, and I tried to be strong in the style of the "harsh and strong" man stereotype. If I was starting to feel bad about my job (burnout) I didn’t want others to think I felt like that cause I’m a woman, I even used to think: probably my male colleagues don’t feel like that (surprise, they felt it too). My advice is: don’t think, not for a minute your gender is a problem, if you feel you need to hide something or that you’re going to be judged by your gender probably the problem is the environment you're in.”