The theme to this year’s International Women’s Day is #EachforEqual — where an equal world is an enabled world. This is something that resonates strongly for us at Zone.
We’re very aware that only one in ten IT leaders (1) and just 16% of creative directors are women(2). That’s why we’re working with Creative Equals to drive greater diversity in our business to enable a more inclusive, innovative and happier workforce.
In honour of International Women’s Day, we asked some of our inspirational women at Zone to tell us why more women should join the technology sector. Front-end dev Sofia Lara Peyret tells us how she hopes more women telling their success stories will attract others to the joys of tech.
1. How did you begin your career in technology and was it something you always wanted to do?
One of my first jobs was to create content for and maintain the style of my company’s intranet. I was working very closely with the UX designers and web developers, so in my free time I started designing landing pages and emails. Later on, I got interested in coding my own designs and I transitioned to front-end.
2. Technology roles are notoriously dominated by men. Do you notice the lack of women and why do you think this is?
Yes, in every other company I’ve worked for, I was the only female front-end developer, so I was pleasantly surprised when I joined Zone and there were others like me. I think stereotypes are to blame when it comes to gender imbalance in tech — some roles are more associated with men than women — but we need to give visibility to all the bright women in the tech industry achieving great things too. Slowly but surely, we’ll change the stereotype and attract even more women.
3. What do you find most interesting about the technology sector?
Its ability to solve everyday and complex problems, its adaptability to all industries, sectors and users, and its never-ending evolution — to keep up to date is an exciting challenge.
4. During your career, have you ever felt that you were treated differently because of your gender?
I have always felt supported at all times by my colleagues and managers, they have encouraged me to explore and learn more. But I have also had different levels of trust on what I was building or designing just because I was a woman.
5. Who’s your female role model?
All women who are brave enough to stand up tall in a men’s world, but especially my mom — she managed to run her business in a male-dominated industry, following her passion with out-of-this-world organisational skills, maintaining a perfect work-life balance and raising a family while being the kindest and most helpful woman I know. In the process she had to learn how to apply tech to her daily life and her business in order to progress. She totally made it.
6. What advice would you give to other women wanting to start a career in tech?
Go to talks, ask questions, participate in the community, start with tiny projects. People are very supportive and there’s always someone willing to give a hand if you feel stuck. Never give up.
7. How do you think the technology sector can become more inclusive?
By closing all types of gaps between genders: pay gaps, visibility gaps, seniority gaps. We need more woman in leading roles, telling their stories and attracting other women to the joys of tech.
(1) https://www.womenintech.co.uk/
(2) http://www.creativeequals.org/
Read more from our Zone Women in Tech series:
Alix Richards, senior frontend developer
Julia Lax, senior frontend developer
