An Open Letter to Aspiring Women in Tech

Dear women colleagues and colleagues-to-be, I am Francesca – the one and only sister of Frankie (whom you’ll remember as the one who used to write this column). You may not know, but like my brother, I am in tech. I am a coder.

Actually, come to think of it, some of you may have seen me at meetings. After all, I am kinda hard to miss since I am often one of the few (if not only) women in the room.

WHY AM I WRITING THIS LETTER?

You must be wondering what I am doing here. Well, my brother Frankie told me that this is a Women in Tech issue – and he thinks I will do a better job than him at this. So here I am.

It is true that there are few women coders in tech. And if I were to be completely truthful, I won’t be in tech too if not for Frankie. We have an ongoing competition between us (sibling rivalry) – who can resolve the bug faster or code more cleanly.

But I belong to the fortunate few. Not every girl or woman has a brother like Frankie. And frankly, this coding business or even the whole tech industry feels like it’s a men-only world. Scary!

WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE A WOMAN IN TECH?

Well, but I know better. I know my male colleagues have no ill intentions (mostly), and we share the same goal – to get things done. Even though for them, this sometimes means speaking louder or interrupting our sentences to get their points across. And with our smaller lung capacities, keeping quiet or letting them have the last word just seems like a smarter option.

IT’S THE MEN IN TECH, BUT IT’S ALSO US.

Oh well, we may be hearing the men’s voices and ideas more than our own, but we can have our own too. We are capable of bringing the same value to the table because we represent half of the world’s population.

Or to put it in a geekier way – we hold the future to virtual reality headsets that are not motion sickness inducing, mobile gadgets that are right sized for women’s petite bodies, and womenfriendly algorithms.

NOW WHAT?

Well, whether the men admit it or not, we do make the tech industry more colourful* and beautiful. And that comes from us thinking, coding and expressing ourselves differently.

So while I used to secretly wish that I can be like Frankie, now I love being Francesca. What about you?

* Incidentally, did you know that women are more sensitive to colours and can see more nuanced shades?