This is why we still have few Women In Tech in Uganda
I have attended quite many tech events in Uganda and I realised I have a question that’s always recurring. “Why do we have few women in Tech?” It doesn’t matter whether the event is online or physical, the women will always be few.
Surely everyone has sung about Women In Tech year in, year out but it still seems like no one is getting it.
I have met quite many successful Women In Tech who have inspired me to be in this tech industry. My very first inspiration in this career path is Nanjekye Joannah, a Python Core-Developer, Director of Python Software Foundation and founder of Pyladies Kampala Community. Joannah has mentored quite many ladies in the community and this is all she yearns to do for Women.
Who is a Woman in Tech?
Speaking about Women in Tech, Who is a Woman In Tech?
A woman in Tech is simply a lady who uses tech in her daily life. Whether for business or at work. She is up to date with the most recent technologies and knows how to use them for her benefit.
Well, we all know that the COVID-19 pandemic has taught everyone that technology is more relevant than they thought, due to the lockdown that caused businesses to close, and companies to close offices, the knowledge of how to use tech to continue working became everyone’s concern.
Some people had to learn how to use video conferencing tools for the very first time, The remote working tools like zoom, google calendars, slack for developers and so on have been there for years but most people outside the tech world were just hearing about this for the very first time. Isn’t that sad? Well, I guess it’s more than sad.
As I woman in tech, I realised I had an advantage over my other counterparts who were not in tech, well I even learnt how to use more remote working tools during the pandemic. I was doing a coding boot camp by then and everything had to go remote.
This is why we still have few Women in Tech
Being a Community Lead, I have had a chance to interact with quite a few ladies who turn up for our meetups. Even during tech events, I constantly interact with the ladies and get to know what inspires them and what challenges them.
What I have learnt from ladies.
Talking about Women In Tech inspires them. Remember, some of the ladies attending these tech events/ meetups are not coming from a Computer Science or Software Engineering background.
Some are Business ladies, Electrical Engineers, Fashion Designers, and Hair Dressers, but they have a zeal to use tech in their different industries.
Now let me tell you what happens when these women come to these tech events/meetups for the first time.
Having honoured an invitation to attend a tech event or tech meet up, a lady will expect to be enlightened and guided on how to break into the tech space, without quitting what they are currently doing.
What happens most times is that once they get there, they see stars. The first thing they’re taught is writing code, and using git and honestly looking at a black screen for the first time is quite shocking if you’re not a developer.
It’s even worse if they have to use Linux because Linux involves using so many commands that would confuse a “first time visitor”.
When a lady has had an experience of looking at a black screen throughout the session, and she leaves without grasping something, trust me she will not come back for the next meetup simply because the previous meetup was not beneficial to her.
The Misconception about Women in Tech
What Women In Tech advocates should understand is that they are advocating for “Women In Tech, not Women In Code” Well, I am not against code because I do code but I am against making women think that Tech is only about coding.
The Tech gurus know that Tech is a whole wide industry, There’s more to tech than only coding.
What should be done
I am a strong advocate for Women In Tech today because someone mentored me, both women and men like Alex Shyaka Nkusi have mentored me. This is exactly what ladies out there need.
Mentorship is what these girls need, I did Computer Science at campus though it was not a guarantee that I knew what to do.
As a matter of fact, by the time I reached year2 second semester, I was already confused and still didn’t know what I wanted to become.
What helped me was the exposure to people in the field and Networking, I got to learn different things about the Tech industry and where I can maximise my effort without feeling offended.
For example, I didn’t know about UI/UX, I didn’t know you can be a UI/UX designer and still earn a living. I learnt about UI/UX through a mentor.
Exposure
Firstly, ladies need the exposure, for example when I attended devfest 2021, organised by GDG Cloud Kampala we were taught best practices and insights on using Google Cloud and other Google developer products and platforms.
They talked about Machine Learning and Data Science, Web Development, Mobile Development, Cloud Technologies, Open source, and Technical Writing and that was good enough for a first time visitor.
In addition to that, there are so many things ladies can pick interest to learn in tech, there is UI/UX Design, Digital Marketing, and E-commerce.
This exposure helps them make informed decisions about where to invest their learning time as they can not learn everything.
Mentorship
Secondly, and the most important thing to me, ladies need mentors just like any other person learning something new.
They need a guide to their learning. With tech, things can get frustrating at some point, a lady needs someone experienced to mentor her, give her the right learning resources, hold her accountable, and someone she can show her progress till she gets where she wants to be.
This way, this lady will keep coming back for more meetups. She will even invite others to attend because she knows exactly what to tell them.
Conclusion
That’s what I think ladies need, have something to say? let me know in the comments. Thanks.
BigUps to all Women in Tech advocates!
I hope this article inspires someone to become a mentor.
