What is it like to be a Woman in Tech

Stacy Keogh

What is it like to be a Woman in Tech? What do most people perceive it to be? A woman surrounded by a world of men? After attending the #WinTechSeries Brightwater's Stacy Keogh of our IT Division discusses how the belief that tech jobs are a man’s world, is ever-changing!

After attending the Women in Tech series for the second year running at the Dublin Convention centre, it becomes apparent that more and more women are becoming technologists and scientists and the belief that tech jobs is a man’s world is ever changing.

There is a place for all types of women whether that be the creative, outgoing, multi tasker or the numbers driven, detail oriented science addict or just what us women do best; outside the box thinkers and hard working boss ladies who know how to dress the part and talk the talk while managing multiple projects, putting out fires while simultaneously arranging a girls’ wine night on the Thursday evening.  Not once does she drop the ball. We know we can do it all- it’s about time it’s seriously recognized and it was exciting to feel this buzz surrounding the Convention centre.

What really stood out to me at this year’s event was that the picture everyone has of technologists-introverts, people who hide behind the scenes coding - is long gone. The rooms were filled with intelligent, beautiful, fashionable and creative minds, enriching the room with laughter and chatter and a real buzz for the exciting future which is now standing before us women. A tech event meets fashion meets creativity meets razor sharp minds!  

What has been trending over the past year in the tech space is that companies are really putting a focus on hiring women engineers and finding ways to introduce technology into the young minds of young girls, not just the gamer boys in their class making it attractive at a young age while giving the resources and tools to gain a passion for tech earlier in life. If there is a time for us women to make a move into the tech space or who is looking to grow their careers further in tech, it’s definitely now! The companies want you and you can help change their world with your many talents.

With speakers such as the wonderful and highly talented Sarah Cunningham, Vice President of Mastercard's Dublin Technology Hub, shedding some great light on how to keep your skills relevant and how to prepare for a job that doesn’t exist yet, we were given a real master class in positioning yourself for the future of work.  In the world of tech, and the ever changing world of IT, Sarah gave everyone some great ideas and planning techniques to succeed In the work place and to stand out among the rest.

Then came the wonderful Fionnghuala O'Reilly! Whoever said you can’t be Miss Universe and a Datanaut at NASA needs to meet this lady. Seeing this beauty on stage and listening to her speak so eloquently about both of her passions- technology and fashion/modelling just proved that the stereotype of what a Data Scientist looks like or should be couldn’t be more wrong. Fionnghuala spoke about how she manages both careers and how she found a way to combine and excel at both. She didn’t allow society to tell her to choose a career that is more suited to her. She followed her dreams, she used her intelligence, her creativity, her beauty and her ability to multi-task and manage both passions to build a career with NASA. I am sure not many people can say this.

So ladies, if you love fashion, if you love to model or watch the Kardashians like myself and you think you don’t fit in with the technology space, take a look at the pictures throughout this blog, go to some meet ups, attend these events. There are all walks of us women in this wonderful career choice and that will become clear very quickly.

From women who love to game to women who love to shop or from women who love science projects and numbers, it really doesn’t matter. The world of tech has many careers options and from meeting so many amazing women at this event …men, you have some competition and we can do it in style!