By Maddy Norris, Principal Network Consultant at Hamilton Barnes, the leading provider of talent solutions to the Network Engineering sector.

Since April I’ve been privileged to host Hamilton Barnes’ The Route to Networking podcast spin-off series that focuses on women in the space. I’ve had – and am certain I will continue to have – incredible discussions with highly successful women in the Network Engineering industry. These to interviews have allowed me to draw conclusions on a few key areas.

Attitude.

These women have had the strength of mind to not be defined by their gender in a heavily male-dominated industry. This attitude – and the ability to put aside unconscious biases in the workplace (more on this later) – has allowed them to make their own progress, despite often feeling like they had to work twice as hard to prove themselves. Take Rita Younger, a Global Manager at an ISP, who put aside any notion of ‘being a woman’ in the space, as she simply wanted to be the best engineer possible. She explained, “I didn’t realise I was a woman in technology, I just wanted to be the best damned engineer there was”. Rita’s career is an interesting one, with a transition from graphic designer into technical training and ultimately a career in Networking proving that it’s possible for women to join the sector at any stage.

Bouncebackability

‘Bouncebackability’ isn’t the catchiest of phrases but it’s a critical trait for any woman in tech. Lexie Cooper’s a great example; she started her career as a legal assistant but didn’t see this as her ‘calling’, so bravely went back to school. Going from an English Literature degree – her classes full of female students – to being one of only four women out of roughly 55 people in her first ‘Introduction to Networking’ class was a shock and this wasn’t helped when lecturer singled out the women with derogatory comments. Having put everything on the line, it was almost the end of another career road when she had serious second thoughts about her decision. Fortunately, she had the strength of character to overcome that initial adversity and attend the second class, where she met her instructor – this inspiring woman, who was a similar age to her but had been in the sector longer, made things more comfortable for Lexie and guided her in the early stages of her career with IBM. 

Community.

We need to be spreading encouragement of our fellow female professionals and social media platforms offer a powerful means of doing so. Indeed, the concept of women empowering women is a strong one and few of the successful women I spoke with were Networking professionals but also content creators. These inspiring individuals are leveraging their online profiles and hosting weekly podcasts or recording videos for YouTube to help others with the confidence to join the sector. Such open discussions show that there are like-minded individuals in the sector, providing other women with solidarity and encouraging broader conversation across the broader community. If I could offer advice on the subject it’d be to take any opportunity to other women in the space, should it rise.

Betty DuBois is one example of an outstanding woman that is encouraging other women to join the industry. She runs Packet Detectives, a network performance consulting and training firm, and wa another guest on the podcast, explaining how she had devised an incentive scheme for women to attend one of the industry’s main conferences. A regular speaker at SharkFest, the Wireshark Developer and User Conference, she offered to forgo her fee, in exchange for the organisers allowing more women to attend the conference for free.

Exposure

Ok, I realise I missed out ‘D’, but the point about Betty leads me on nicely to many of my guests discussing how they ‘fell’ into the industry or only got into it on a whim. It highlights the lack of exposure to the industry for young girls and therefore the lack of intention for girls to go into tech from an early age. As Betty pointed out, the industry should be doing more; she said the industry should “Get ‘em young, treat ‘em right”. 

More needs to be done to increase awareness of the opportunities that a career in technology affords, whether it’s through better awareness through early education and during university programmes, Networking internships (which allow you to gain valuable insight in the industry whilst still being educated on it), or female-centric conventions. Progress is being made but not enough, in my opinion. 

Disadvantage, or advantage?

There, I’ve managed to crowbar in the ‘D’ … is it an advantage or a disadvantage being a women in tech? Well, progress is needed in more than just awareness, since stereotyping is unfortunately rife across the industry. I mentioned unconscious bias in the workplace earlier and many of my guests admitted to having faced this, for example being on the receiving end of misogynistic comments or being mistaken for somebody’s assistant. Unfortunately, Imposter Syndrome can affect women who are victims of these biases, with women questioning whether they have the necessary expertise or are in the right area.

That said, my interviewees seem to be using these biases to their advantage, using challenges that push them out of their comfort zones as fuel to drive their personal growth and development. Their message is therefore one of positivity that women can even gain an edge over their male counterparts. Kori Younger is another example of someone who has worked hard in spite of the odds and proved herself to be a high-performer. An Associate Systems Engineer at Cisco and the daughter of Rita, quoted earlier, Kori said, “It’s easy for anyone to look at you when you walk into a room, being young and also a female and obviously I look different than the engineer sitting across the table from me most of the time, but when we pass our exams and validate our knowledge, it bridges a gap naturally.”

The amazing women who have featured on The Route to Networking podcast – and many others across the sector – can be the role models that the technology industry needs to drive real change. Women need inspiration to take the first steps in their career and subsequently thrive in the sector. 

For those who make that first step I commend you, and my advice would be don’t be held back for being different. Stand out from the crowd because of your differences, your drive and your dynamism (more ‘Ds’).