International Women’s Day, March 8, is an annual celebration of women’s achievements and progress toward gender equality.
The tech industry has seen significant progress in this regard with women breaking down barriers and making valuable contributions.
Despite these achievements, women continue to be under-represented in many tech roles, and there is still a need to ensure their full participation in the industry.
Empowering women’s inclusion in tech is crucial because it brings diversity and new perspectives to the table, which leads to better innovation and problem-solving.
Providing women with equal opportunities to pursue careers in tech is crucial to the industry’s growth and development as they can make significant contributions.
Role Model Campaign
To achieve this, Equals, an Amsterdam-based firm that focuses on empowering and supporting women’s career growth, launched ‘Role Model Campaign’ on International Women’s Day.
The initiative highlights 166 women who work in technology, leadership, and entrepreneurship within the Amsterdam and Hague regions.
Alina Ushakova, Software Engineering Manager at TomTom says “What or Who inspired you to pursue your chosen career? “I think the biggest influencer in my early life was my grandma – she has a masters degree in radio physics, worked her whole life in the corresponding field. She always told me that I am great in mathematics, that I am smart and if I work hard I can achieve anything.I chose to study applied mathematics that gradually shifted into computer science. I love puzzle solving. I enjoy creating a product that can be useful. Those two fit perfectly for me to choose for the software engineering field.”
Equals believe that the Role Model Campaign is crucial for inspiring women to pursue their professional aspirations.
At the same time, on a macro scale, it is necessary to ensure that young girls can easily see these role models within their most familiar environments, their neighbourhoods, suggests Equals.
“When asked what they want to be when they grow up, they can proudly respond: “I want to be like her!”. Because on this International Women’s Day, #YouAreThem!,” says the company.
YES!Delft says, “As a tech incubator we would like to see more women founders as there is a lot of potential talent out there. This is why we feel this campaign is important. The role models from YES!Delft is an example for the next generation entrepreneurs.”
Sophie-Anne Onland, Public speaker & Diversity and Inclusion Expert says, What advice would you give to your younger self? “My story is about self-acceptance and embracing differences. I would advise my younger self to embrace myself and be proud of my unique qualities and differences, and to not be ashamed of them. I may also encourage my younger self to seek out and find a community/rolemodel that accepts and supports me, and to not conform to societal norms or media representations of what is considered “normal.”
On this International Women’s Day, Silicon Canals had a chance to interview Dieuwke van Buren, the Managing Director of Equals.
During the interview, Dieuwke van Buren talked extensively about the significance of having a role model, the company’s plans for the year 2023, and other related topics.
Read on to discover her take on the future of female entrepreneurship in the Dutch capital.
The need for a ‘role model’
Role models are essential for women in the tech, entrepreneurship, and leadership sectors. Studies prove that when women have role models to look to, they feel more engaged with the industry.
Talking about the importance of having a role model, Dieuwke van Buren says, “You can’t be what you can’t see. For me, it is important that every girl and woman can identify with someone who is participating in the campaign. It starts with aspiration/inspiration to choose another path than that.”
Sharing about personally benefiting from having a role model, van Buren adds, “Yes, I always thought I wouldn’t need a role model. In the end, it became clear that I grew up in a family situation that was Equal, so it was a ‘normal’ thing for me. I was benefiting from role models all that time (my mom & dad).”
“When I was pregnant with my first child, that was the first time I became aware that I needed role models. I was looking for colleagues and people around me in the working field having a career and were a mom, and were fun in the end. I became very close with those women,” she says.
The Campaign
Equals (formerly We-Rise) is an organisation that advocates gender equality in the technology industry by promoting a range of awareness-raising and educational programmes.
Van Buren shares, “The campaign is designed to align with our overall strategy and goals, which involve inspiring, attracting, educating, and retaining women in the technology field. We aim to showcase successful women in the industry, encourage them to join our academy where they can receive training, and support them through our Equals programme, which includes mentoring and upskilling opportunities.”
“This campaign is a starting point for the conversation with the companies that they need to take the first step if they want to bring more women in. ‘we can’t find them’ is not an excuse anymore, because we will bring them to you. You can’t keep fishing in the same pond, you will keep catching the same fishes,” she notes.
Achievements unlocked
Referring to the milestones achieved so far, van Buren says, “We established a membership club that offered a comprehensive programme focused on career, personal, and business development.”
She continues, “We created subgroups focused on specific areas such as FemalexFinace, Women in AI, and Creatives for Climate. The academy kicked off with our first five classes where we were able to make the puzzle between companies, tech schools, and women.”
She adds, “And this year’s campaign, with more than 110 companies and 166 role models in tech, leadership, and entrepreneurship, we have proven that there are already amazing women in this field. ‘we can’t find them’ or ‘they are not there’ is for sure out of the options.”
On Equals Academy…!
Equals launched an academy in cooperation with large tech companies and coding courses to help double the number of women in tech.
Right now, Equals Academy offers:
- Jr. Data Engineer
- Jr. Full Stack Developer
- Front End Engineer
- Jr. Automation Testing
“We just started with the Equals Academy, and now our professionals work at Ayden, Capgemini, and Sogeti already. They stay members at Equals, following programming, getting more certificates, and getting mentored to ensure we not only bring women tech talent to the workforce but also make them stay there,” adds van Buren.
Roadmap for 2023
Van Buren states, “Our goal is to have more companies on board who can adapt more women into their tech teams and take on the challenge together with us to double this 18 per cent.”
“Besides that, we are building a supportive, learning, and inspiring network of our member clubs in the city centre of Amsterdam. Equals is becoming the place to drive (gender) diversity in inclusion, enough talking, start doing,” she concludes.
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