Supporting Women in Tech

About a month ago I was at a local event called, Women in Tech paying it forward. This event opened my eyes to how important the continued support of women in all industries, especially those still so heavily dominated by men truly is. During this event there was a panel discussion of four women who were newly entering their careers in tech. The women where talking about the journeys they had been on to bring them into tech and the worries and challenges they felt there were about to face as they took their first steps out of education and into the workplace. The panel was made up of women in different stages of their lives, some just out of high school, college and others taking a new rebirth of a career to discover something new for themselves. Each woman commented on the challenge of being in a male dominated industry and for them it felt like a boys club. A club that made them feel uncomfortable expressing their voices and feeling as though they could be heard in their positions. This was heartbreaking and eye opening to me. I realized that as impressionable youths we are looking for guidance towards a path of to discover our natural talents and abilities. Like a teacher who sees a natural talent for a subject and guides a student to a focused area of study. The women on this panel were lucky enough to have found mentors to do this and yet they still battled with the insecurities of managing in a males dominated profession. This night was so important because for as empowered as I feel there is still so much work to be done!! Don't let your voices be muffled ladies and when possible look to those around you and help them feel strong about their voices too!