WITsend

It's not that long until this year's Ada Lovelace day on March 24th, so I thought it would be worth mentioning it here. It's an annual international day of blogging to support women in technology, and will see people all over the world blogging about a woman in technology they admire.

The aim is to increase awareness of the women in IT who are already doing great things, and bring a positive slant to the debate surrounding the lack of gender balance in tech.

Suw Charman-Anderson, who blogs for Computer Weekly on the social enterprise blog, came up with the idea and got nearly 2,000 people joining in last time.

Ada's full name was Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (I'm so jealous of that name) and she's credited with being the first ever computer programmer. She wrote programmes for the analytical engine that Charles Babbage invented.

Last year we featured a list of high-profile women we admire, so this year I am hoping to find some less well-known women. I have a list of names which I'm going to start working through, and as mentioned before, anyone you know in IT who you think should be featured, let me know on Rebecca.thomson@rbi.co.uk.

You can sign up for Ada Lovelace day on the website. If you don't have a blog and want somewhere to post it, you can send it to me if you like and I'll put it up here.

Suzanne Doyle-Morris writes:

While stereotypes abound about "chatty women", very few are actually comfortable speaking in front of an audience - where it really counts.

Get in the habit of speaking up and then leading meetings, offering to make presentations about your team's work to other divisions, letting your boss know you'd like to speak at industry events.

Think about it: who gets credit for a new client win? The person who stayed until 11pm working on the PowerPoint slides or the person who presented it all the next morning?

Eileen Brown, social media expert and formerly the most senior technical woman at Microsoft UK, explained: "When I first started in IT, I was asked to lead a training workshop in Windows 3.11. My boss watched and said I was terrible, to which I retorted that I'd never had any training!

She sent me on a course, which was a complete epiphany. I'd been using aggressive body language like standing over people and getting too close. After the course I adapted my style and got rave reviews.

It made me realise how vital these skills were and how different presenting to ten people was to an audience of a thousand... but what was vital was that I was able to synthesise and simplify technical language to a wider audience, and build rapport simultaneously."

Plus, being a techie who can engage both technical and non-technical audiences is a rare gift - and one that will get you noticed.

As discussed in Beyond the Boys' Club: Strategies for Achieving Career Success as a Woman Working in a Male Dominated Field, ask for presentation skills training, or invest in your own through Toastmasters. Just showing willingness will help others start to think of you as a potential presenter, which could come in handy the next time your boss needs to deputise or ask you to present your work at an event.

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Suzanne Doyle-Morris is the author of Beyond the Boys' Club: Strategies for Achieving Career Success as a Woman Working in a Male-dominated Field.

Suzanne's next virtual career development 'bootcamp' runs in March.

See also: 

Beyond the Boys' Club: http://www.beyondtheboysclub.com/

Suzanne Doyle-Morris' blog: http://www.doylemorris.com/

We are hoping to publish profiles of as many different women in technology as possible - if you know someone who should be highlighted, please send their contact details to rebecca.thomson@rbi.co.uk. Thanks!

Eileen Brown is CEO of Amastra Ltd and a former Microsoft Evangelist. You can follow her on Twitter @eileenb.

What does a typical day involve for you? I do a lot of remote work for clients around the world so I don't have a typical 9-5 day.  The first thing I do each day is check my social media profiles, update them where necessary  and respond to any comments on my blog and Twitter that have arrived overnight.  Then, depending on whether I'm doing networking, presales, proposal negotiation, funded client work or Administration, I'll mould my day around the specific clients I'm working with.

Why did you go into technology? I've been fascinated by the way things work since I was at sea (I was a Deck Officer in the Merchant Navy working for Shell Tankers after I left school). Working out how to solve problems using technology has always been more of a hobby and a passion than a job. Talking to people, helping them get the best out of what they have, and enthusing about the possibilities for them has always been the forefront of every conversation I've had with customers, connections and friends.

Can you give me a brief career history? I spent ten years in the Merchant navy as a Navigating Officer, 6 years as a container ship planner, managing a fleet of ships on the round the world service. I discovered PCs in 1992, moved into IT, technical IT infrastructure, deploying MS Mail on Windows 95. I moved into technical training, teaching students about the Microsoft Back Office suite of products and then onto consultancy. I then worked for Microsoft for eight years, initially in enterprise presales, latterly in evangelism before leaving to start my own company specialising in using social media to effectively connect with your customers to extend your online brand

What do you love about your job? I love to talk to customers and help them realise the value of using the tools they already have, and the opportunity for them to reach new markets in ways they hadn't considered before. Social media gives small companies the chance to have global reach, customer engagement and an interactive digital presence, which they didn't have before web 2.0.

 
What challenges does your job involve? There are far too few technical women in our industry, and the numbers seem to be in decline, as more women make the move from technology to management in order to break through the glass ceiling and advance in their career. Women use technology as a tool in their careers and often don't take advantage of opportunities presented to them.

Have you come across any problems or challenges that relate to you being a woman in a male-dominated environment? How have you dealt with them?
Well that question made me smile. I was the first female cadet that Shell Tankers had accepted - a rare thing in the 1970's, so I had huge challenges overcoming the attitudes in an extremely male dominated environment. Back then, I believed that behaving like a bloke would get me acceptance, so I drank, smoked and swore with the rest of them - well I was usually dressed in a boilersuit, safefy shoes and hard hat and I assumed that this behaviour was the "right way". Of course, in hindsight, I realised that when I got my officers stripes I was instantly accepted as being able to do the job - so it's credibility, qualifications and skill in the job that gets acceptance, not laddish behaviour - something that I've held true ever since.

Do you have any opinion on the overall "women in IT" debate? Lots and lots. This starts pre-school where mothers discourage children from perusing "boys" activities. This carries on throughout school with peer pressure to be accepted as 'normal' and by the time that the girl is ready to face the workplace, she is conditioned to believe that IT is geeky and for boys. But there is hope though. After a successful career at sea, I discovered IT in my early 30's. The key to helping women in IT is to help them believe in themselves.

If there was one thing you could do to change the situation for women in the technology workplace, or to get more of them involved, what would it be?
Smash the glass ceiling. Force companies to offer easier access to guilt free remote working and flexible hours so we don't lose female talent after they've had children. Prevent women who have 'sacrificed' the opportunity to have children, from resenting women who have made that decision and preventing their career progress.

Would you encourage others to go into your industry or specific job, and what advice would you give them? I would encourage any woman to believe in themselves and strive to succeed in IT. With the right encouragement, mentoring, confidence and support, we can, together, reverse this decline.

Just take a look at this graph - the results are quite striking:

Remote working, schemes to help women back into work after maternity leave, mentoring - these are all practices businesses should be looking at so that we can change the look of the graph above and have more women at the top of IT. As I said before, it's a new decade - let's hope it signals a new start!

By Rosie Khdir

She's had over 120 careers; we've seen her as a princess, a rock star, an Olympic champion, an air hostess and an astronaut, but 2010 could see Barbie in a whole new technological light.

I recently read in an article on womenintechnology.com that Toy company Mattel has launched a contest to determine its next Barbie doll's occupation and, interestingly, computer engineer is in the running.

Is this evidence that computer science is finally becoming a more common occupation for women?

Over the years Barbie has adapted to reflect changes in society, for example, in 1968 towards the end of the US Civil Rights Movement, Mattel brought out their first African American Barbie.

So, by making computer science an option for Barbie's next career move, is it a suggestion that more women are entering the field? Well, statistics show that the number of women in computer science has been on a slow decline ever since the 1980s, but in the last two years there has been a slight increase in women studying the subject.

According to UK Resource Center for Women, the percentage of women in undergraduate computer science courses in 2007 was 13.4, which rose to 14 per cent the next year. Ok, so it's not a huge leap but it is an increase at least.

But, of course, Mattel could always be making an ironic statement about the lack of women in IT and they might even be trying to encourage a change?

I suppose that it's odd that I'm looking to a small doll, thinking of how it could change the perceptions in wider society. And, really, will it have any significance?

All I know is that after I first set eyes on my Ballerina Barbie, I knew I wanted to be a dancer. Granted I never graced the stages of The National, but the dream and interest were there.

And whether it is a reflection of industry change or simply the interests of young people as they become more digitally minded, or even a statement of a need for change, I'm fully behind it. Go geek Barbie!

If you fancy seeing Barbie trade in her ball gown for a laptop then visit Barbie.com and help put women on the IT map. Votes close on 12th February 2010.

Rosie Khdir is a technology journalist at PC Site. You can follow her on Twitter @rosiekhdir 

Suzanne Doyle-Morris writes:

As coaching sheds its reputation as a new-age fad and becomes accepted as a strategic development tool, so too has it gained increasingly widespread acceptance among professional women in IT.

When I interviewed successful women in technology for Beyond the Boys' Club I was surprised just how many women had worked with an executive coach, either through their company or by hiring their own.

It was seen as an investment in getting an advantage, when they wanted to take their confidence and sense of career direction to the next level.

Caroline, the IT Director of a global logistics company, worked with her most recent coach for 18 months before making the large step up to IT Director. She explained its utility: "It helped me take time out of my schedule, even just once a month, to focus on where I am going. My coach helped me remove the obstacles I was putting in my own way without even realising it. I didn't initially believe I was ready for such a large promotion."

Vickie, an IT project manager for an investment bank, credits coaching with helping her see how her competitive nature was potentially getting in the way of progressing her career. She explained: "I've always been incredibly competitive, which means I would usually work best with people who were junior to me rather than peers. The coaching provided the aha! moment for me; I had to challenge the assumption that people at my level are pure competitors. This eventually enabled me to engage in collaborations with peers I would have never even seen before. My eyes just weren't open to those opportunities before."

Her advice to other professional women? "Work with a coach when you reach a level of discomfort with where you are. You feel you can do more, but don't know how to take that next step or even what the next step actually is. If I didn't use the coaching to become aware of my blind spots, it would have limited my career in the long term."

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Suzanne Doyle-Morris is the author of Beyond the Boys' Club: Strategies for Achieving Career Success as a Woman Working in a Male-dominated Field.

Suzanne's next virtual career development 'bootcamp' runs in March.

See also: 

Beyond the Boys' Club: http://www.beyondtheboysclub.com/

Suzanne Doyle-Morris' blog: http://www.doylemorris.com/

Suzanne Doyle-Morris writes:

As I discussed in my book, Beyond the Boys' Club, savvy professional women recognise that most decisions are not truly made in the boardroom. They are made in the relationship building and 'off-line' conversations people use to canvas opinion and gain support for their ideas.

I have seen too many smart women diligently prepare their research and arguments for an 'open' discussion around the board table, only to feel confused and sidelined when it appears the decision has more or less already been made.

When I asked Caroline, the UK IT Director of a global logistics firm about this, she laughed: "You're right. If you don't shore up support beforehand, it can get very ugly and emotional within the boardroom - so making some of these decisions beforehand is critical."

She had learned how vital this was by watching a particularly gregarious male colleague several years before.

She said: "Every time he had to present to the board, he spent the preceding days visiting every single board member, asking them for coffee, how their day was going, if they had time for a beer later." She continued: "He went to every stakeholder, and nine times out of ten his proposals were accepted because he had gained the support of the individual board members before he ever walked into the boardroom."

Caroline had clearly been impressed by her colleague's foresight as she admitted that it was now the approach she took to get things done. She continued: "I get my Managing Director on side in terms of the general principles and direction I'd like to take. And once I have that, then I work my way around seeing each of the board members to make sure they are in agreement and I have addressed their concerns as well."

In short? Spend time shoring up the support you need, as the boardroom is the last place you want a surprise.

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Suzanne Doyle-Morris is the author of Beyond the Boys' Club: Strategies for Achieving Career Success as a Woman Working in a Male-dominated Field.

Suzanne's next virtual career development 'bootcamps' run in January and March.

See also: 

Beyond the Boys' Club: http://www.beyondtheboysclub.com/

Suzanne Doyle-Morris' blog: http://www.doylemorris.com/

As mentioned in my last post, a complaint I hear fairly regularly about female technology entrepreneurs is that they're not really "techies", but that they're writers or marketing experts or consultants, and they can't be included in lists of women succeeding in IT. Despite the fact they make a living from technology, and their businesses are based on and rely on technology, they are not real techies.

I don't agree with this, and think it's symptomatic of the insular, vaguely snobby attitude (that can be associated with technology "geeks") which can put girls and women off the industry in the first place. Irrespective of whether they climbed the ranks of developer or programmer jobs, the fact is these women work in technology. They have brought their skills, experience and ability to the technology industry. They should be applauded, not sneered at.

I do agree that more female technologists are needed, but I don't like the fact that sometimes women are brushed aside because they're on the "lighter" side of tech and they don't know how to write code. If someone runs a successful website and uses the internet to market and advertise her business, to me she works in technology. As technology continues to creep into more aspects of people's lives, the technology industry expands with it, and so too does the definition of someone who works in tech. Trying to deny that makes you sound like a luddite - you're the same as the old-school newspaper hacks who can't cope with the internet and so spend their time bitching about Twitter and feeling superior. New media and internet businesses are springing up and making money fast, and to do well in this sphere you need more than just technology skills.

If more girls are going to join the technology industry we need role models, and these so called "non-technical" women can provide that just as well as female CTOs. It seems a little self-defeating to write off large swathes of the female technology industry because they don't necessarily fit a preconceived idea of what it is to work in IT. The sector needs a change of image, and clinging on to old ideas is not going to achieve that.

Suzanne Doyle-Morris writes:

My book, Beyond the Boys' Club: Strategies for Achieving Career Success as a Woman Working in a Male Dominated Field focuses on the techniques senior women who work primarily with men have taken to get ahead in their careers.

For the next six weeks we will be looking at just a few of the strategies they used - strategies that will help you negotiate the labyrinth of office politics without feeling like you have to be 'one of the boys'.

As Lis Astall, European Managing Director of Accenture said of her early working years: "I worked longer hours than anyone else before I realised it was not accomplishing anything I wanted - just more work. Instead I became better skilled at realising which projects were worth the hard work - and which were not."

One way to figure out which projects have the most potential is to spend time on 'water-cooler talk'.

Some of my coaching clients initially lament they are so harried just doing their day job, there is little time for getting lunch or coffee with colleagues.

While a job well done should be enough in a truly meritocratic system, the reality is that we don't live, and we certainly don't work, in a true meritocracy. Deals are informally agreed and relationships strengthened by the dozens of small interactions people have in shared 'down time' with their colleagues.

It's the banter at the water cooler that greases the wheels of communication, and can save you time in the long run, by giving you the alliances and information you may need.

The paradox is that these interactions may seem meaningless but are in fact all-important. They can be banal in content but without them you will not be seen as a team player and will be left without allies, both factors that could sidetrack a promotion.

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Suzanne Doyle-Morris is the author of Beyond the Boys' Club: Strategies for Achieving Career Success as a Woman Working in a Male-dominated Field.

Suzanne's next virtual career development 'bootcamps' run in January and March.

See also: 

Beyond the Boys' Club: http://www.beyondtheboysclub.com/

Suzanne Doyle-Morris' blog: http://www.doylemorris.com/

For women in male-dominated business fields there are times when a little bit of company, sympathy, or even a sprinkling of feminist theory, is enough to get you through the day. There are others, though, when what you really need is some practical help and advice.

At last year's W-Tech event in London, I was pleased to hear practical suggestions from a number of expert speakers. Among them was Suzanne Doyle-Morris, an executive coach who specialises in helping women develop business leadership careers. (You can read about that session in a previous post, 'Be the boss you wish you had', on this blog.)

Suzanne is an ICF accredited coach with plenty of experience coaching female business leaders, further backed up by her own PhD research into the field. Her book, Beyond the Boys' Club: Strategies for Achieving Career Success as a Woman Working in a Male-dominated Field, features plenty of practical tips, gathered from her interviews with more than 21 high-achieving women working in male-dominated fields.

Over the next six weeks, every Monday from 18 Jan to 22 Feb, Suzanne will be bringing you some brief practical insights into the strategies a number of successful career women have used, as revealed in her book. To give you an idea of what's on its way, here's Suzanne herself, introducing her unique perspective on the issues facing women trying to get ahead in business:

"Career progression especially in male dominated fields is a blend of aptitude and attitude, manoeuvrability, understanding of office politics, self awareness and confidence. As a professional coach developing high-potential female talent, I have yet to meet an ambitious woman who wasn't already delivering high quality work.

What women tend to lack is the knowledge of how to raise their profile well, when most of their colleagues are men, and how to unlock the level of confidence required to take the next step up the career ladder to the boardroom/senior roles. It's the way we draw attention to what we do and achieve that sets us apart from others. It's not our gender."

Amen to that!

And for those itching to take things further, Suzanne is also running virtual career development 'bootcamps', kicking off in January and again in March. For more information see: http://www.beyondtheboysclub.com/boot-camps.html

See also:

Beyond the Boys' Club: http://www.beyondtheboysclub.com/

Suzanne Doyle-Morris' blog: http://www.doylemorris.com/