By
Charlotte Newman
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Inspirational advice for and from women in technology!
Women in the technology sector often face issues regarding gender imbalance, and unequal treatment at the workplace simply because of the dominance of men in the industry. However, at nyris, the gender ratio is close to 50:50, empowering both women and men in tech equally. Recently, we held a panel talk about women in tech and asked the powerful women at nyris who studied engineering or IT about their reasons to do so, and the challenges they faced along the way...
Anna:
To be honest, I didn’t think a lot about my reasons why I studied engineering at the time. But, looking back, I think I was fearless. At my Gymnasium, many of my friends told themselves; “no, I can’t study engineering, as those subjects like electrical or mechanical engineering are too difficult!”.
On the other hand, I told myself “I have no clue what engineering is”, so I didn’t question my ability and just went for it. In the end, it remains that engineering is so broad that I still cannot define it! For example, soldering is very close to handcrafting home decor, and learning how to code is a similar process as learning a new language. This is probably precisely the reason why when coding the creative part of the brain is activated and not the analytical side.
I thought: “I have no clue what engineering is”, so I didn’t question my ability and just went for it.
Varduhi:
At university, I studied Economics and Finance, but at school and university I always loved Maths and Information Technology because I enjoy problem solving and working with data. That was my main driving force to start learning programming. Many people told me that it would be impossible to learn without going to University, but I proved that the passion for what you love and sense of purpose are much more important.
I started by learning C# alone using books and online courses and found that I enjoyed the process very much. There is no greater pleasure than solving a problem. Now, I am 100% confident about the choice I made, and feel that my job makes me happier, allows me to keep learning new things whilst using advanced technology, and go home feeling satisfied at the end of the day.
A word of advice from me: If you are working somewhere and feel that what you are doing is not for you, don’t shy away from trying something new! This is especially if something else interests you, don’t be afraid to take the leap and go for it!
Anshu:
Coding and the whole tech environment have always fascinated me, which ultimately led to me becoming the first engineer in my family. To me, software development is very similar to sketching and creating music which have also been my passions since childhood. The rush of joy when your code works is one of the most satisfying feelings. Concentration is independent of the subject, we need the same concentration to paint as we need to solve math problems, write code, or implement computer vision models. When you are concentrated, it is possible to solve anything. No matter whether we can completely resolve the issue, we can certainly lay the foundation on which someone else can progress.
There is this quote that I love: “If someone says you can’t do it, do it twice and take pictures”.
Khadija:
From a young age, I was fascinated with computers. I watched my older cousins working and programming through them and was in awe. I knew I wanted to be in a similar place one day. Then, in high school and at university, mathematics became my favourite subject. Solving mathematical problems was really enjoyable to me because I enjoyed the challenge of thinking and pushing myself beyond my limits. Ultimately, the best moment is when I finally come to a solution, I once even cried of joy.
Although my mother would’ve loved seeing me studying medicine, it was crystal clear that medicine was not the path for me because I wanted to follow something mathematical and technology related. This led me here today; loving what I’m studying, and the work I do.
So to sum up, there shouldn’t be a right study or role for you, nor will there be hard studies and easy ones. There should only be what you love to do, because if the willingness is there, you will do it. There is this quote that I love: “If someone says you can’t do it, do it twice and take pictures”.
