We interviewed Nithya Vimalanathan, Principal Consultant at Sogeti UK on her experience and thoughts on diversity in tech.
My role as a Delivery Manager is multi-faceted. Daily, I engage with multiple stakeholders, which involves a palette of skills like leadership, analysing and defining the risks, dependencies and involve in techno-functional and mentoring discussions.
My day in the life starts with daily stand-up meetings after which I wear my technical hat. I am responsible for the stabilization of the IT infrastructure environment. I liaise with the key stakeholders to prioritize the requirements for the subsequent code releases. Meanwhile, I switch to my leadership hat to manage my team members (BA’s, Developers, QA’s, Product Owner) allocating tasks, clarifying information, and helping to clear blockers.
Since my project is agile, I am involved from the business requirement gathering phase, collaborating with the Product Owner and developers. I create frameworks for processes that improve the quality of the product and responsible for the overall delivery of a quality product.
I was curious about computers right from my childhood as I wondered how computer games, UI and software were designed and how they work behind the scenes. People scared me, telling me that technology is a mere academic subject, and it is not for girls to pursue as a career. I felt I should choose a career based on my interest therefore I can constantly learn and adapt as technology evolves.
I pursued an undergraduate degree in Computer Applications and MBA specializing in Systems and technology. This laid the strong foundation for my career.
Yes indeed, as I can visibly see the lack of female representation in the IT industry either be it a female leader or technologist. Although we are on track to meet the target of 40% Women in Leadership by end 2025, we lack in diversity in the IT and tech sector. In my opinion, I feel this is due to gender inequality.
The main issue with the lack of diversity is hiring for the role but not for the talent. There is a pre-conceived notion that certain roles should be performed only by a certain group of people and not for all, resulting in misalignment of roles.
Of course, Yes. I didn’t pursue an engineer degree; A decade back, IT jobs was always classified only for Engineers. I must prove every step in my career to get into technology sector.
Diversity and Inclusion means creating an environment for everyone from different backgrounds, experiences, age, gender and beliefs. It’s embracing those differences, being respectful and kind to each other, making sure everyone feels valued. It requires a conscious effort to appreciate the experiences of others and what different perspective they can bring to the table. This will create a safe & confident environment.
Yes, I have faced discrimination in my career. It did break my confidence and it didn’t create a safe & conducive environment. After my experience, I started to advocate for Diversity & Inclusion in workplace. My current workplace has given me a safer and more confident environment where I can thrive and not just survive.