Bridging the gender gap: ‘Sometimes, I have been the only woman in the room.'

The digital and technology space has made incredible leaps in recent years, but more needs to be done to address the gender imbalance that continues to blight its progression. A glut of trailblazing females, are now making their mark, infusing the industry with new ideas and exciting products. In this article, we’ll explore the personal career experiences of some of those inspiring individuals and hear how they started out. Also, we’ll get insights into the challenges they faced, their views on mentoring, and how the industry can improve.

Helena Nimmo is a board level technologist and has experience in digital, data, product, and back-office systems, ranging from ERP to SaaS collaboration tools. She is a generalist that has constantly been outside of her comfort zone. She said: “You only learn new things from being out of your comfort zone, which happened to me a lot throughout my career.” Helena continued: “I am a generalist – I identify myself as a technologist and I have never been able to code. I fell into technology like many others do – completely by accident. I was working on the business side of Nokia and we were going through a massive transformation programme. They needed someone in technology to be able to explain the business.”

Nadine Tao Baker worked across EMEA for leading global brands in the financial services sector helping companies digitise and transform their businesses. She started off in strategy working as a management consultant in South Africa, eventually moving into banking in the UK. Nadine said: “Carter & Carter gave me the exposure to work across Europe and then I moved to a design agency.” She added: “…that’s where the experience of the world came from, working in the Middle East, Greece, and Central Asia.”
Deyana Petrova has 10 years’ experience in digital marketing, technology and e-commerce. Leading international teams and establishing global processes, both in-house and within an agency environment. She said: “I’ve sent emails myself, run paid media campaigns myself, set them up, and seen them executed. I've built simple websites myself, but I’m not a developer. Throughout my career I have been quite hands-on, first with small clients when I was in Malta, then I moved to the UK and started working with blue-chip brands.” Deyana added: “I’ve been very lucky to have worked on diverse projects and to work with brands that were really into innovation, or website migration. So, in a sense, it looks like I searched for these roles, but it has naturally flowed one after the other. This is how I got to the point where I can look at the whole spectrum of digital, which is quite exciting because it never gets boring.”

Diversity and inclusion

With diversity and inclusion (D&I) being hot on the agenda for companies in all sectors, it has been well documented that a diverse, workforce and culture, can attract a wider field of top talent. However, being a woman in the digital space can often throw up challenges. Helena said: “More often than not, I have been the only woman in the room. And that still happens. Even today it still happens. I personally didn’t question it much. I just looked at it as something fairly normal. However, I am much more uncomfortable with it now than I used to be.”
Nadine said that she feels that this hasn’t changed over the years, even though a lot of businesses are now running diversity programmes and groups to encourage and promote diversity. She added: “They’re not promoting people to senior enough positions and they’re not recruiting the people into them. And that goes down to culture and leadership. The senior leaders don’t actually put in a mandate to HR and say, "we have to" or "I want someone diverse." 
Deyana believes that an inclusive working culture is very important in helping to boost overall diversity and support for women within digital and technology businesses. She said: “It’s extremely important, I believe in that 100%. Any company should try to make sure that their team is as diverse as possible.”
So, is mentoring a good way to introduce more women into the industry? Being guided and advised by successful senior female leaders can be morale boosting. Deyana said: “I think as a woman, you would relate to another woman a lot more. I have been very lucky because I have worked with two ladies who have really defined my career early on. They were role models for me.”
On the same subject Nadine said: “To me, companies are saying the right things, but are not training or supporting their mentors properly. Even a CEO won’t know how to mentor someone unless they have been successfully mentored or coached. I believe in mentoring and executive level coaching hugely. And I don’t think we ever stop learning in our careers.”

What are the dangers and what needs to be done to attract more women?

Helena said: “If we talk to the younger generation, they don’t understand what the problem is, because they are much more inclusive in their generation already. We [women] are creating this challenge. We make the assumption that we need more women studying STEM.” For Nadine, UK companies are not doing enough to promote women in those positions, so that other women can see it is an option for career growth. She said: “CEOs and hiring managers need to do more.”
Women have already contributed a lot to the digital and technology space. They are critical to long-term success, and more women in prominent roles will help pave the way for a more inclusive working relationship. If you are looking to hire top talent in the technology sector, please get in touch with one of our specialist recruitment consultants today. Alternatively, read through our article ‘10 Skills to look for in digital professionals’ to find out which skills you should be looking for when hiring.