The #shecoded prompt this year made me realise that 2022 officially marks 5 years in tech for me! What better time to reflect on my experience so far 😄

The career switch

Back in 2016 I was doing well for myself career-wise. I'd pretty successfully turned a wandering few years as an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher into a career in supporting overseas students to study in the UK. I'd been promoted regularly, managed a great team, and felt like I was genuinely helping some people. But I just felt so "meh" about my work, and had done for such a long time. I didn't want to feel that way about something I did for 40 hours a week.

I spent such a long time analysing what I enjoyed, what I was good at, and where the intersection of those two things lay (spoiler: I am not great at many things I enjoy 😄). I knew I wanted to make things, but I knew that my talents weren't really artistic, more logical/analytical (I'd previously pivoted away from a career in puzzle editing!).

I had a little lightbulb moment remembering how I used to love creating geocities websites (I think the first one was a Will Smith fan site 😆). A few months of ploughing through Codecademy tutorials and I was convinced - I was going to be a Software Developer.

Better late than never

My high school ran Computer Science classes that I never enrolled in. Instead I was pushed toward "Office and Information Skills" (i.e. making spreadsheets and word processor docs). It kinda makes me sad to think I could have started in tech so much earlier, if people had recognised how well suited I was to Comp Sci. I'm gonna add as well - I made my school a website, and still nobody thought to suggest Computer Science to me 🙃

I don't think anyone actively tried to exclude me from that Comp Sci class, but I'm also pretty sure if I wasn't a girl I would have ended up in it. Any subconscious bias that existed in my teachers also existed in me - it's not like I was beating down the door of that class. I just didn't know it could be for me 🤷‍♀️

Our conditioning into what's "for" us starts so early, and breaking the bias requires conscious effort. It's great to see the work Girls Who Code and so many other similar organisations are doing in this area.

My five years in tech

On the whole, the last 5 years has been amazing, and I have zero regrets about career-changing into tech. However I've definitely come up against some challenges that I believe are symptomatic of bias in the industry. Let's have a quick run-down...

The bad stuff: a - thankfully - brief list

• Very often being noticeably the only woman in a room (one time in particular sticks in my mind - 11 men, and little ol' me presenting some work to them)
• Having questions directed at a (male) colleague, after I'd presented and demonstrated the code I worked on
• Being assumed to take notes in a meeting
• Being asked to make teas and coffees for others in a meeting
• Being mistaken for a designer, despite having introduced myself with my job title
• Having my (dismissed) ideas reframed by a man in the same meeting
• Having a male client give me what can only be described as an uninvited "in person" code review
• Having my own code explained back to me as if I didn't just write it 😆
• Being told that although a promotion would match up with my current responsibilities it "wouldn't be credible" to anyone looking in from the outside
• Getting one or two creepy DMs any time I give a meet up talk/workshop/etc

The good stuff

On the whole I've been pretty blessed with great colleagues throughout my tech journey.

That time a question got fired at my male colleague instead of me, the presenter? My colleague simply passed the mic to me, pointing out I was the one in the know.

That time my ideas got reframed by a man in the same meeting? Another male colleague pointed out what had just happened, the person was mortified and apologetic and in the end we all laughed.

The teas and coffees? I pointed it out to my manager (the CEO of the company) who then made a point of always doing this himself, for every client meeting.

Oh and that time I was told a promotion wasn't credible? Well, I left that job and got a tidy pay raise to go somewhere else 😝

Breaking the bias

I know it isn't such a smooth path for everyone, but what I want to stress in this post is the positive impact many of my colleagues have had throughout my journey. I've been lucky to have people around me to call out bias when they see it, listen and make changes to their own behaviour, and advocate for others that might be getting overlooked.

I strive to do the same for others, and hope you will too ❤️