Having this blog allows me the opportunity for others to reach out and provide me their thoughts on what is important to them. I recently got an email from Sarah who read my International Women's Day blog and likes my site for the information I provide.
Having worked at TELUS, a Canadian Telecom company, I was a leader in a very male dominated world. There are many stories I can tell about the disparity in pay, in role parity, amplified expectations, working twice as hard, being belittled, and mostly not respected as much as my male counterparts. It wasn't until my last director, that I was treated fairly and acknowledged for the work I had done for over 27 years.
Funny thing, when I meet this director, I asked him why he didn't have any women on his team. He stated they had had one but it just didn't work out with the dynamics of the team. I boldly told him, one day he would hire me and I would show him what a women can bring to a male dominated team.
Two years later, I had the pleasure of leading an engineering team within this directors portfolio and right away I hired women into this very high tech WIFI and Computer centric world. What had started as a team of men that were only focused on the work at hand ended up being a team that collaborated effectively and loved hanging out together. Making it a family and not a workshop. Woman bring diversity in every aspect and if given the chance can change the whole dynamic of the workplace.
So when Sarah reached out and shared this blog by Jennifer Gregory "The Empowering Guide for Women in Tech in 2024" I gave it a read and there are some great tips on how to make incremental changes by people and organizations to ensure women climb up the technology ladder.
I also found this Global Council that supports Women in Tech from all over the world and allows them to thrive in STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts Mathematics) by helping shape the future of technology with confidence and excellence. They have chapters in six contents that you can access support.
Picture taken from https://women-in-tech.org/who-are-we/
Whatever your goal in life is, my motto is and always has been "Work hard but play harder". But more importantly you have to love doing what you do. You have control of what your work life is going to be. If you are not happy in what you are doing or who you are working for, then make a change. Change is hard for many, but change gives us an opportunity to grow which is amazing in itself.