Recently I had the opportunity to be on the panel of the session “Finding and Making Opportunities in the Tech World” of the AlGirlRhythm event.

AlGirlRhythm is an event for girls aged 16–24 to explore live music and technology whilst building their employability, confidence and networking skills, organised by the STEMettes.

It was really a privilege to share my tech career journey with young women and answer their questions in order to show them what is possible in a STEM career.

I’ve always been greatly interested and passionate about women getting involved with STEM and specifically the Tech community. But I’ve also never been very outgoing or confident to get out there and speak in front of an audience or even a small crowd. When a fellow colleague at Treatwell made me aware of this opportunity, I thought it was time to overcome my insecurities and share my experiences.

It was, fortunately for me, a small crowd of young women who were interested in listening to what we had to say. This was indeed encouraging. As I was up there, the stress actually started to disappear. I realised that nothing I could say could be labelled as wrong as I was describing my own experiences and these women were interested into listening to just that.

The young women were interested in which subjects you need in school and university to get a job in the field and so we talked about that. My fellow speakers and I also shared how a lack of qualifications is not necessarily a barrier and difficulties can be overcome by taking some extra online/offline courses or just by having an idea or project and implementing it by using different means for guidance as you go. If you want something, make it happen!

I shared how I became interested in coding, my studies and first job experiences. They were interested to know how many women work in the company and I was happy to announce we had quite a few. At the event, I also had the opportunity to hear other speakers journeys from different technology backgrounds and it was empowering. There were stories that I could associate with and experiences I haven’t had but were wonderful to hear and taught me something new. It was great to expose our audience to the different types of jobs you could have in the Technology department, some of which they were not yet aware of.

There is something about women STEM events that generate camaraderie and a feeling of encouragement and support. I think this was passed on to the audience.

It’s important to have events such as AlGirlRhythm as unfortunately women continue to be underrepresented in STEM due to basic stereotypes. When women are not represented in STEM we miss out on their experiences and the different perspectives they bring but it also feeds the stereotypes.

STEM fields are key to dealing with important issues and complex problems such as climate change, cyber warfare, artificial intelligence, gene editing and more. It is imperative that women are a part of the conversation and solutions and are not lost as STEM becomes the prevailing solution/contributor to our future lives.

If we want more women in tech we need to be more involved and to tell our stories. Speaking in public definitely gets better with practise but there’s not any judgement within the community and it’s a safe space to share your stories and encourage other young women but also become a better public speaker. If you have a story then share it and inspire.

I should also note how happy I am to be working at a company such as Treatwell which brought this opportunity to me, as it’s looking into helping girls in Tech, and allowed me time to attend and share my experiences. Treatwell takes diversity and inspiring young people very seriously and I am happy to be a part of this family. It’s definitely easier to get out there when you work at a supportive company.