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Local ICT women demand change

Regina Pazvakavambwa
By Regina Pazvakavambwa, ITWeb portals journalist.
Johannesburg, 28 Aug 2015
More and more women are taking on management roles in the IT space, says Debbie Tam, COO at Mustek.
More and more women are taking on management roles in the IT space, says Debbie Tam, COO at Mustek.

Although there has been some improvement in the numbers of women participating in the ICT workforce, much more work needs to be done for them to be well represented in the field.

In celebration of the Women's Month, ITWeb spoke to local women in the industry about the issues affecting them, their success stories, and what needs to be done to address the gender imbalances that have traditionally characterised the ICT sector.

Debbie Tam, COO at Mustek, says more and more women are taking on management roles in the IT space. She gave the examples of Lindi Shortt MD at Rectron SA and Videsha Proothveerajh, country manager for southern Africa at Intel.

"When I look at today's generation, I feel encouraged to witness a distinct change in the number of females actively pursuing a career in ICT."

Tam notes although the ICT workplace can prove a tough environment at times for women, there are always ways to add value. Women need to discover where the gaps are and plug them efficiently. This will result in earning trust, respect and credibility, she says.

Little is being done to promote the industry to females from primary school upwards, says Leane Hannigan, cloud solutions director at Westcon.
Little is being done to promote the industry to females from primary school upwards, says Leane Hannigan, cloud solutions director at Westcon.

"Never let the current environment you're in limit your potential. Be the change you want to see in the world, tapping into the tech community that interests you most to identify gaps and opportunities that will evolve you and your career."

Better networking

According to Leane Hannigan, cloud solutions director at Westcon, little is being done to promote the industry to females from primary school upwards.

Hannigan believes rectifying the gender imbalance will be slow and will differ from country to country.

"I feel we are in a tougher environment being in an emerging country and especially in Africa with very traditional views still being respected."

Women should tap into internship programmes and learn to network better. When the network opens up, so do the opportunities, says Hannigan.

Merely putting pressure on companies to hire women is not enough: correcting the imbalance should start at the education level, says Lauren Wheatley, social media manager at Women in IT.
Merely putting pressure on companies to hire women is not enough: correcting the imbalance should start at the education level, says Lauren Wheatley, social media manager at Women in IT.

Lauren Wheatley, social media manager at Women in IT, says merely putting pressure on companies to hire women is not enough. Correcting the imbalance needs to start at the education level, exposing more girls to ICT careers and presenting ICT as an option for a career - giving the girls the right to choose their career path, says Wheatley.

By hiring women to reach a certain quota, companies are ignoring whether or not the women have the skills for the job, she adds. "This hurts women in the field, because they won't know if they were hired for their abilities or for addressing the imbalance.

"If companies want to make a difference, they need to get involved at the grass-roots levels, providing education opportunities rather than just upping their women employee quota."

Women's empathy

Intel's Proothveerajh says working in the technology industry can be challenging, but women's empathy, nurturing instinct and inclination to actively listen give them a competitive advantage to change perceptions in the workplace.

"The only limitations are the ones we create for ourselves."

Learn from your failures, be yourself and dream big, says Videsha Proothveerajh, country manager for southern Africa at Intel.
Learn from your failures, be yourself and dream big, says Videsha Proothveerajh, country manager for southern Africa at Intel.

She advises women interested in technology to never be defined by a title, whether that's 'IT manager' or 'woman', but to rather enhance opportunities to learn new skills and be enriched by new experiences so that they may define their own idea of success.

Education is a tool that can lift people out of poverty and enable them to achieve the seemingly impossible. "Learn from your failures, be yourself and dream big," adds Proothveerajh.

With commitments from organisations that promote the profiles of successful women in the ICT field, attracting female talent and women participation in ICT will grow, says Nonceba Rasmeni, project manager, at Women in IT.

"We have to change the culture of 'women' roles and 'men' roles. Being a geek girl must be cool."

Getting there

Internationally, more women CEOs are leading top, established IT firms, such as Meg Whitman at HP and Ginni Rometty at IBM. Locally, we are also getting there with Tracy Bolton as the new director of general business and partner operations at SAP and Ulandi Exner as the new IITPSA president and head of IT at Vunani Group to name a few, says Rasmeni.

Successful women's profiles in the ICT field need to be raised as case references for girls, says Nonceba Rasmeni, project manager, at Women in IT.
Successful women's profiles in the ICT field need to be raised as case references for girls, says Nonceba Rasmeni, project manager, at Women in IT.

Successful women's profiles in the ICT field need to be raised as case references for girls and young women who are aspiring towards careers in ICT, she adds.

"Skills development programmes - knowledge transfer and encouraging ICT small, medium and micro-enterprise opportunities will be the key. There are plenty of opportunities within IT roles, one just needs to get involved to get ahead."

She believes women are strong enough to withstand the volatile nature of this environment but can improve the gender imbalance by helping each other through mentorship and networking.

"We are seeing a slow progress but there is progress nonetheless. Women have to take on the challenge and apply for these positions and not forget about opening up the network to other ladies."

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