"My mother was actually a programmer in the 70s, so I wasn’t the first female in my family to pursue a career in STEM. She often brought work home with her and I found it fascinating. Once we got a computer I was hooked, and this is where my love for technology started."
Lori MacVittie is the Principal Technical Evangelist at F5 Networks. She spoke to FE News about why companies need to give more support to women in STEM and how F5 are working towards this goal.
"F5 now has a great mentoring scheme in place that is open to everyone and has been a great way to support women in the workplace. Being mentored by another person who has had similar experiences can be extremely useful professionally," explains Lori.
"We’ve seen effective examples of this with females returning to the workplace after motherhood, and junior staff being mentored by senior women. The program not only matches employees with like-minded people, but also provides a comfortable way to discuss sensitive matters in confidence."
"Wherever you go, it’s likely that you’ll end up in a male dominated environment and if that makes you uncomfortable then that’s ok. Make sure you find a mentor or friend who you can vent to, and a business or educational body that will provide the right support to help you be successful in your career," she adds.
"STEM industries have a reputation for women struggling to be successful. Don’t be put off – if we want change, we need to be the forerunners. The most important thing for me is that data and computers don’t care about gender, so women shouldn’t let it bother them either. My advice would be, if you’re interested in a STEM career, just go for it!"
Read more insight from Lori about women in STEM on FE News.
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Disclosure: Where Women Work researches and publishes insightful evidence about how its paid member organizations support women's equality.