Women have had an impact on technology breakthroughs for a very long time. Ada Lovelace is often recognised as the “world’s first computer programmer” for her work in the 1850s that inspired Alan Turing, almost a century later, to invent the computer. Hedy Lamarr patented in 1942 a frequency-hopping idea that inspired well-known technology used by all of us today: Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth. The first batch of computer programmers appeared during WWII, all women. A decade later, Grace Hopper led the team that developed COBOL programming language (and recorded the first ever real computer bug!). They bring different perspectives to ideas that enrich our lives, projects and companies nowadays.
Despite all this, only 26% of the tech workforce is female. This shows that significant challenges remain in representation and advancement of women in tech companies.
Studies show that diverse teams outperform on both creativity and productivity. This means companies that value diversity are more likely to attract top talent. Therefore we can see how the industry would benefit from an increased representation of women in its teams. And recent changes in work patterns further increase access and flexibility.
AT PLURALIT, INCLUSIVE IS OUR IDENTITY
At Pluralit we believe that an open and inclusive work environment is essential to the wellbeing and engagement of our people, as well as innovation and growth. From day one we have been committed to building an inclusive and accommodating environment where everyone can contribute, develop and explore to reach their full potential. Our first social responsibility initiative, “Connecting Women”, aimed to incorporate women from all walks of life into the tech industry. And through our work, we aim to give women opportunities to enter and advance in the technology sector, both as IT specialists and across other company roles like legal, comms and finance.
Women are also central to Pluralit through our young history: 2 of our co-founders are women and women make up large parts of our sales, talent and staff teams. In addition, each of these teams is respectively run by a woman. Today, 41% of our overall collaborators are women, amongst 71% hold non-technical roles.
However, only 17% of our tech specialists are women. This means our next challenge is to entice more women to look at our tech roles and relocation opportunities. In this line we are delighted with Bruna and Amanda, our pioneering female tech consultants recently relocated to Belgium.
“Being a woman in tech can be challenging since most tech and IT professionals are men. Yet I can see how this is rapidly changing and, each day, we have a more equal workspace and then more women working in tech. I am a Marketing graduate that never imagined working with technology. Looking back, jumping into Tech was one of my best life decisions - for instance it provided the opportunity to fulfil my dream and experience life abroad in Europe. I am extremely happy with my job and the projects that I am working on are challenging and fun” said Bruna Damião, Salesforce Business Analyst at Pluralit, coming out of a career in Marketing and deciding to go into tech.
Nanci Abarca, Software Developer at Pluralit, got into this world following her dream and found exactly what she was looking for: “One aspect of working in tech that I especially like is that I can leverage my natural curiosity and passion for learning, since in this industry is fundamental to stay up-to-date and constantly adapt to new tools and techniques. Thus far, I've had an excellent experience at work in Europe. I'm part of a multicultural team of smart and diverse individuals, and we are working on an engaging project that keeps me motivated. I'm grateful for the chance to work in such an enriching environment”.
