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Gartner talks women in tech

Joanne Carew
By Joanne Carew, ITWeb Cape-based contributor.
Cape Town, 30 Sept 2015
Women working in technology have had to learn to be more agile, says Tina Nunno, a research VP in Gartner's CIO Research group.
Women working in technology have had to learn to be more agile, says Tina Nunno, a research VP in Gartner's CIO Research group.

If tech is a man's world - women need to be working with men to get the job done.

The idea of this tech "boys club" was discussed by a group of female business executives during a panel discussion at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2015 being held in Cape Town this week.

Tina Nunno, a research VP in Gartner's CIO Research group, recounted a scenario that happens every year at a Gartner cocktail event in Canada, where over 100 female CIOs get together to discuss their role in the industry. What is funny, noted Nunno, is when a man happens to accidentally walk into the room.

"They generally walk in, realise they are surrounded by women and look terrified. But as women in this industry, walking into a room full of men is an experience that is not too unusual for us."

This fact means that women working in technology have had to learn to be more agile in scenarios where they are the only person of their gender at an event or in a meeting. This is the reality of working in this industry, she noted.

Louise van der Bank, CIO of AfriSam, noted we naturally tend to mingle with people of the same gender but in situations where women are in the minority it is imperative for women to make a concerted effort to interact, network and collaborate with men too.

"Do not stand back in these situations. We should not see men as different. We must not see them as anything other than our colleagues. Say what you need to say regardless of the gender of the person you are trying to communicate with," she said.

And men need to be part of the process, stressed Nunno, because raising awareness is part of the solution.

"Often men don't understand that our reality is different. On several occasions this year I have encountered a number of male executives who have fired female CIOs for being too aggressive. But the reality is that in a CIO role you need a competitive killer. But the stereotypes around woman being polite and not as aggressive sometimes still manage to get in the way of this."

Complex gender dynamics are a reality, said Lorraine Sefolo, GM of IT at the SABC. "As women, we need to equip ourselves with the skills that will allow us to succeed in this environment. This involves managing complex relationships between people of all sexes."

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