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Abstract

intimidating. It can sometimes feel like being on the outside looking in to a club you’re a member of but don’t belong to.Much of the time my male co-workers are close friends outside of work that might meet up for a beer on the weekend or hit a golf course if the weather permits. While being friends with co-workers is awesome and can make work more enjoyable, it can be weird when you add a girl to the mix. Not to mention, it changes the dynamic of an all male team a lot of the time. All male IT teams act way different than co-ed teams, I’ll leave it at that!My first IT job was on a team of six other men, and I was the only girl. I LOVED this team and have nothing against any of the guys I worked with. They did so much to make me feel like family, since they had all worked together for years and I was the newbie.BUT being the sole girl in a group of guys is intimidating in itself! It’s natural to feel like an outsider, especially when guys enjoy talking about sports and who likes what teams, and you have zero input.There have been multiple occasions where I’ve been sitting at lunch or dinner with a group of male co-workers and conversation shifts from business to sports or cars and I had nothing to contribute to the conversation. If I had a girlfriend to turn to and chat with then no biggie, but these dinners were all men, and then there was me.So I’m here to say, if you’re reading this, and you can relate, you aren’t alone!The other thing I find really weird is that a lot of IT vendors give their clients tickets to sports games, or have “meetings” on golf courses. Two things that I would definitely not be interested in.In a pre-dominantly male industry, I think things like this need to change. As I climb up the ladder, and one day get into management, I don’t want to have to network on a golf course because it’s where all the big wigs are going to be. What’s wrong with holding networking events at a banquet hall or hosting a dinner?With IT being mostly male, I think it’s been natural for business and pleasure to mix. When you have a group of men out to a business dinner, obviously it’s not going to be all work talk.People talk about their favorite teams, cars, fishing, golfing, favorite beers, etc. Then it turns into “we’ll have to play golf sometime” or “I have a buddy that can get us tickets to a Giants game”.Again, add a woman to the mix and you have a female getting roped into going to a sports game

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she’s not interested in.A few years ago I was in Atlanta for business, meeting with a vendor and one of our partners. Our partner took us to dinner one night, and then the second night they ended up taking us to an Atlanta Braves game because they have passes they use on their clients.I had traveled with three guys on my team and our partner was…you guessed it, a male as well. So here I am, at the time, a 22 year old, fresh out of college, on my first business trip, and had to go sit through a baseball game. Boring! Baseball is just not my cup of tea.On top of that, I spent every waking moment for four days surrounded by men.Now, if you’re still here with me, that’s not a bad thing. But sometimes you just want some girl talk! You want to gossip and chat about things women talk about!And let me tell you, of the five or six business trips I’ve been on, there’s been ONE where I got to hangout with another female, one of my sales reps who was also in her 20’s. That trip was probably one of the more fun ones just because I went to dinner and had drinks with a female my age. We had so much in common and it was a great few days of both work and personal conversations.Another experience I’ll share with you. A few years ago I went to another vendor dinner. It was a dinner meant for executives, but I had the opportunity to tag along so I did, I figured it’d be a great way to network.So here I am, at a dinner with 10 or 12 other men, mostly CISOs, and one of the guys has the audacity to ask if I was a spouse or girlfriend. Can you say aggravating? I know I was the youngest one there and by no means look old enough to be a CISO, but to just assume I was there as someone’s date was probably the rudest encounter I’ve dealt with in a business setting like that, and it’s honestly unprofessional.All that being said, I’m not here to paint a horrible picture of being a woman in tech. I’m here to share my experiences thus far and share a day in the life of being a woman in IT/Cybersecurity.I truly believe that changing the culture of IT as a whole is key to balancing out the male/female ratio. We need to pique women interest in IT jobs, while also developing a culture that considers both men and women interests. Instead of having executive functions at golf courses, host it at a banquet hall and hire entertainment to make it fun and exciting. Magicians, live music, comedy acts, things that both men and women can enjoy.</article></body>

A Day in the Life of a Woman in IT

For my first post, I really wanted to share what it’s like to be a woman in the IT industry. IT really is an industry that’s been dominated by males for the longest time, but that’s slowly changing.

Organizations like Women in Tech and Girls Who Code have changed the landscape and boosted female interest in IT careers. With that being said, we still have a long way to go and I love being part of that change!

As a precursor, let me start off by saying I’m not here to bash men, only to share some of my experiences since joining the IT industry, where 95% of my coworkers/team members have been male. So please do not take any of what I’m saying negatively, I really just want my readers to see things from my perspective.

I recently joined WoSEC, an organization who’s goal is to inspire and connect women in Cybersecurity, or women interested in starting a career in Security, and ensure we stay there.

Many women start tech careers and end up leaving because they don’t feel “at home”. Work is where we spend the majority of our time, 40+ hours a week, so we want to feel like we’re a part of something. Some women may find it more difficult than others to feel welcome on a team of all men so it’s important to provide some place for tech women to come to get that sense of belonging. It’s organizations like WoSEC that spread the word and show other females out there that we aren’t alone, because sometimes it can feel that way.

According to some recent stats, the ratio of men to women in tech is far from 50/50. In the engineering industry, the average ratio is 80% male, 20% female, which I can totally attest to. In my four years in this industry, the majority of my co-workers have been male, and the conferences I’ve attended have been the same. Not only are the attendees male, but a lot of the speakers are male as well. Not to say companies aren’t doing their part to diversify the industry, more so they don’t have much to pick from when trying to find female speakers because there aren’t many of us to begin with!

While I don’t mind working with men, it can be intimidating. It can sometimes feel like being on the outside looking in to a club you’re a member of but don’t belong to.

Much of the time my male co-workers are close friends outside of work that might meet up for a beer on the weekend or hit a golf course if the weather permits. While being friends with co-workers is awesome and can make work more enjoyable, it can be weird when you add a girl to the mix. Not to mention, it changes the dynamic of an all male team a lot of the time. All male IT teams act way different than co-ed teams, I’ll leave it at that!

My first IT job was on a team of six other men, and I was the only girl. I LOVED this team and have nothing against any of the guys I worked with. They did so much to make me feel like family, since they had all worked together for years and I was the newbie.

BUT being the sole girl in a group of guys is intimidating in itself! It’s natural to feel like an outsider, especially when guys enjoy talking about sports and who likes what teams, and you have zero input.

There have been multiple occasions where I’ve been sitting at lunch or dinner with a group of male co-workers and conversation shifts from business to sports or cars and I had nothing to contribute to the conversation. If I had a girlfriend to turn to and chat with then no biggie, but these dinners were all men, and then there was me.

So I’m here to say, if you’re reading this, and you can relate, you aren’t alone!

The other thing I find really weird is that a lot of IT vendors give their clients tickets to sports games, or have “meetings” on golf courses. Two things that I would definitely not be interested in.

In a pre-dominantly male industry, I think things like this need to change. As I climb up the ladder, and one day get into management, I don’t want to have to network on a golf course because it’s where all the big wigs are going to be. What’s wrong with holding networking events at a banquet hall or hosting a dinner?

With IT being mostly male, I think it’s been natural for business and pleasure to mix. When you have a group of men out to a business dinner, obviously it’s not going to be all work talk.

People talk about their favorite teams, cars, fishing, golfing, favorite beers, etc. Then it turns into “we’ll have to play golf sometime” or “I have a buddy that can get us tickets to a Giants game”.

Again, add a woman to the mix and you have a female getting roped into going to a sports game she’s not interested in.

A few years ago I was in Atlanta for business, meeting with a vendor and one of our partners. Our partner took us to dinner one night, and then the second night they ended up taking us to an Atlanta Braves game because they have passes they use on their clients.

I had traveled with three guys on my team and our partner was…you guessed it, a male as well. So here I am, at the time, a 22 year old, fresh out of college, on my first business trip, and had to go sit through a baseball game. Boring! Baseball is just not my cup of tea.

On top of that, I spent every waking moment for four days surrounded by men.

Now, if you’re still here with me, that’s not a bad thing. But sometimes you just want some girl talk! You want to gossip and chat about things women talk about!

And let me tell you, of the five or six business trips I’ve been on, there’s been ONE where I got to hangout with another female, one of my sales reps who was also in her 20’s. That trip was probably one of the more fun ones just because I went to dinner and had drinks with a female my age. We had so much in common and it was a great few days of both work and personal conversations.

Another experience I’ll share with you. A few years ago I went to another vendor dinner. It was a dinner meant for executives, but I had the opportunity to tag along so I did, I figured it’d be a great way to network.

So here I am, at a dinner with 10 or 12 other men, mostly CISOs, and one of the guys has the audacity to ask if I was a spouse or girlfriend. Can you say aggravating? I know I was the youngest one there and by no means look old enough to be a CISO, but to just assume I was there as someone’s date was probably the rudest encounter I’ve dealt with in a business setting like that, and it’s honestly unprofessional.

All that being said, I’m not here to paint a horrible picture of being a woman in tech. I’m here to share my experiences thus far and share a day in the life of being a woman in IT/Cybersecurity.

I truly believe that changing the culture of IT as a whole is key to balancing out the male/female ratio. We need to pique women interest in IT jobs, while also developing a culture that considers both men and women interests. Instead of having executive functions at golf courses, host it at a banquet hall and hire entertainment to make it fun and exciting. Magicians, live music, comedy acts, things that both men and women can enjoy.