Loading...Take a look around your workspace and count how many women you see around you holding down tech jobs. How many did you tally?
The colossal disparity between men and women in the tech industry has been and still is a glaring issue, worldwide. And, although the statistics for women in tech continue to climb steadily – it’s not happening quite fast enough.
At Pentalog, we’re proud to say our femme force accounts for over 40% of the work done on software development projects. Unfortunately, we are the exception – not the rule.
Make no mistake – history itself dictates that women have been largely responsible for some of the biggest strides in technology. Margaret Hamilton wrote the code that blasted the famous Apollo 11 to the moon. Annie Easley brainstormed the very technology pioneering the first ever hybrid vehicles.
Meet the women of Pentalog who are igniting a cultural shift.
Smart and beautiful tech women in Pentalog Chisinau. (Elena, Delivery Manager Chisinau, is on the right of the photo.)
Each one of us knows at least one successful career story of a remarkable woman in tech; perhaps, a woman role model who’s had a direct and major impact on your professional life. As times change, more women are breaking barriers and paving their way to success in STEM, which is no-doubt full of its fair share of challenges and opportunities.
As a woman and manager you serve a critical role – mentor. Empower younger generations of women to pursue a career in tech and support them in their professional development.
The future of women in tech depends on you!
Top Management Skills – Digital Down to the Bone
Elena, Delivery Manager at Pentalog Chisinau, is an “Iron Lady” with a big heart. Courageous and determined to leave her footprint on the Moldovan STEM field, she climbed the leadership ranks from QA Engineer to Project Management. After over 10 years in the field, Elena took over the management of 170 employees, a quarter of which are women.
“My professional development is a work in progress. I’ve come a long way, but the adventure keeps on going. My daily routine on the job appeals to reason, common sense, patience, and respect. I collaborate with many people, so I don’t want to disappoint and I still have so much to learn. I simply love my job!” – Elena.
Elena and her team play an active role in molding the Moldovan IT community – striving to train the young generation and create jobs in a dynamic work environment. They organize and support career change programs, training sessions, competitions in technology and robotics classes dedicated to children and teenagers, events addressed to empowering women in tech, etc.
The goal is to raise the bar of excellence for IT specialists working on international projects.
It is well worth saying it’s never too late to seek training and start a career in an exciting field such as IT. Elena herself was about to study Chemistry & Biology, following family tradition. She changed her mind abruptly and applied to The Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science in Chisinau.
IT Calling for (Female) Inspiration
My colleague, Simona, Pentalog’s Brasov Project Director, has invested her energy off-work in getting a non-profit organization up and running. This organization aims to promote diversity and enhances the educational/professional development of women in tech, in Romania.
Through the networking and business opportunities it brings in, Global Women in Tech facilitates sustainable economic growth through international partnerships with organizations, companies and universities. One of their most popular programs, Code Diversity, aims to connect companies in STEM with students from technical universities in a joint summer school program to help them kickstart a career in tech.
This is a mission near and dear to Simona. She has been tracking the impact of GWiT’s programs on its target audience for the last two years and is convinced her efforts will soon have a major impact on the Romanian labor market.
I, myself am part of the Advisory Board and together with a strong team, we aim to share our unique experiences and stand out as role models in STEM.
Simona (on the right), at Lean Startup Summit Berlin, an event dedicated to entrepreneurs and innovators.
I admire Simona for her determination and passion for IT! In spite of her busy schedule and family responsibilities she still makes it a priority to invest time to inspire others. As this moment, she is enrolled in the Computer Science Faculty’s courses, in Bucharest. She also holds an MBA from the University of Wales. On top of that, she regularly sharpens her technical toolbelt by joining tech events worldwide. Can you say, Superwoman?
Like most ambitions people challenges, results and effervescent teams inspire her. Having started her own career in STEM 11 years ago with little technical knowledge, Simona, a graduate of modern languages, struggled to learn and grow in the IT field (after gaining relevant experience as a marketing consultant).
She is familiar with a role model’s ability to inspire and drive young women to pursue a career in IT from her own life experience.
“My inspiration is Jody Davids: I learned from her to set and achieve goals, prioritize, and work hard in order to lead.” – says Simona.
This is how she became an impactful business driver focused on continuous improvement and excellent results, with a clear educational and professional roadmap in mind.
Diversity means Nothing without an Inclusive Workplace Culture
Many women in tech are just like my colleagues, Elena and Simona. Monuments of passion and ambition. They fill gaps, are excellent problem solvers and have impenetrable work ethic. Women in general, not only at Pentalog, are natural leaders and give 150% .
In March, we usually celebrate women. This year, the United Nations celebrates International Women’s Day under the official theme #BalanceforBetter, advocating for a more inclusive world.
Let’s all play our part in making the tech world a more inclusive environment for all the amazing femmes out there so we can write more success stories like this one!
Discover how we can accelerate change for a more equal treatment!
Excited students and challenging mentors – the key to successful IT internships.
Want to join us? Check out the job openings!
