#woman in tech

[code-es]

The women who laid the foundation of tech

EDIT: I noticed that this post ended up being reblogged by terfs. If you're transphobic this post is not for you to reblog. I want to celebrate everyone who is not a cis man in this industry, including trans women and nonbinary people in tech, and it was my mistake to only include cis women in this post when there are so many trans women and nonbinary people who have done great things in tech as well. Trans women are women and just as important.

Here you can read about trans ppl in tech, and please do:

https://www.thecodingspace.com/blog/2022-03-01-six-trans-programmers-who-shattered-the-lavender-ceiling/

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/transgender-tech-visibility-obstacles-remain/story?id=76374628

The morning of women's day i attended a super inspiring seminar about being a woman in tech at a large tech company in my city, and now I'm inspired to share what I learned with all of you!

I didn't have time to finish this post on women's day, but it's not too late to post now: every day is a day to celebrate women!

Women actually laid the foundation for a lot of the tech industry.

For example, the first computer, ENIAC, was programmed completely by women! While men were the behind the scenes engineers, it was women who did all the actual programming of ENIAC.

The women who made up the team responsible for programming it were called Jean Bartik, Kay McNulty, Betty Holberton, Marlyn Wescoff, Frances V. Spence and Ruth Teitelbaum.

I think one woman who is finally getting her overdue recognition is Ada Lovelace. She was a mathematician (also often referred to as the first programmer) who created the first algorithm in 1842, which wasn't recognized until 1953! However, since none of her machines were ever completed it was never tested in practice during her time.

She has since been celebrated by giants such as google, and she has given name to a programming language (Ada). She was also the first person to write about what is today known as AI. Back when she was practicing, computers were simply thought of as calculators. But she had an idea that if computers can understand numbers, then that can be translated to letters, and in turn that can lead to computers being able to handle words, and eventually even write, draw and create music.

Hedy Lamarr was a famous Hollywood actress in the 40's, but she was also an inventor who laid ground for what we use today for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS services.

During WW2 she wanted to contribute positviely to the military efforts against the Nazis, and she tried to figure out how to radio control torpedoes. In 1942 she patented her technology "Secret Communications System", also known as frequency hopping, which laid the foundation for the technology we use today for Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth. It wasn't until 1962 that it was first used for its intended purpose, during the cuban missile crisis.

Grace Hopper invented the first compiler, called A-0, in 1955, and was also part of the Univac team, which was the company also responsible for building ENIAC. She also initiated work on the COBOL programming language.

She was also the one to coin the term "bug" in 1947. Computers back then had lights to visualize their working process (which was also a womans idea to implement btw) and bugs would be attracted to the lights, but usually that was no issue - until a bug made its way into a tube which caused the computer to stop working. Hopper taped the bug to a piece of paper and logged what caused the crash - a bug.

Dorothy Vaughan (left), alongside colleagues such as Katherine Johnson (middle) and Mary Jackson (right), was a mathematician at NASA (called NACA when she started) who worked on the orbit for the first ever manned spaceflight and later also on Apollo 11 that would take humanity to the moon!

When Vaughan started at what was then called NACA, segregation was still prevalent in the US and she was not allowed in the same areas in the office as her white colleagues. Another department was formed for the black staff, and when the director of said department unexpectedly died, she was appointed as the new director and thus became the first ever black woman at that position at NACA/NASA. In 1958 when NACA becomes NASA segregation is forbidden, and that is when Vaughan and her colleagues Johnson and Jackson started working on programming the orbit and later also Apollo 11.

Continuing on the same track of NASA and space, Margaret Hamilton was the Apollo project's first actual programmer. Hamilton became the director of software engineering at NASA in 1965, and she was also the person to first coin the term !

In the image above, she stands next to all the handwritten code that was used to send humanity to the moon. During the early stages of the project when she would speak of "sofware engineering", software development was not taken as seriously as other forms of engineering, and it wasn't regarded as a science, either. She wanted to legitimize software development as an engineering discipline, and overtime the term "software engineering" gained the same respect as any other technical discipline.

And lastly, if you're a woman in STEM, I want to highlight and celebrate you! Being a woman in a male dominated industry is not easy, we often suffer from sterotype threat and are not seen as our own individuals, but rather "the woman" in a room full of men. But just as these women, I'm sure you will achieve greatness!!

Here are some additional resources if you'd like to learn more:

https://www.history.com/news/coding-used-to-be-a-womans-job-so-it-was-paid-less-and-undervalued

https://digitalfuturesociety.com/programming-when-did-womens-work-become-a-mans-world/

And this was mainly my source for this post, but it's unfortunately only available in Swedish:

Thank you for reading ✨

[zzzzzestforlife]

@zzzzzestforlife's Software Engineering Masterlist 👩‍💻💻🗃️

🍋 mostly for zesty to refer to when she needs motivation, but you can definitely use it too 💛

in case you're confused, this is not a kpop masterlist, i just find this man to be particularly motivating for my career 🤭

timestamps

🚲 build me up buttercup

☔ i am a lucky girl

🐝 drive it like you stole it

🍁 don't quit on a bad day

diaries

🐥 first-time project lead releases first feature

🏃‍♀️ romanticizing sprint kick-off

♀️ for my fellow women in tech

😇 chill day

🙀 if nothing else, it's a good story

🐣 baby zesty was so sweet and innocent

🌤️ if nothing else, it's a good story pt. 2

💕 small, consistent efforts accumulate over time

🎊 project completion wooo!

🌄 realistic day in the life

🏢 project diaries: a week in the life

🎯 career goals

🍃 coming soon — ordinary days of growth

asks

🧠 why i'm studying psychology as an engineer

💻 coding projects as a beginner

[angystudiesstuff]

Quick life update:

I’ve finished training and now I’m a cloud engineer!!! I used to watch those “how I got into tech with no CS degree” videos and I thought it looked cool so I gave it a go and now I’m a gal in tech!

I had to return my training laptop and I didn’t realise how unsuitable my personal laptop was until it was all I had. It was great for uni because I only needed it for coursework and watching lectures but now I actually need a Thinkpad or MacBook Pro 😭. I bought the same model of Thinkpad I had during training from eBay because definitely I’m not earning enough to just buy a new laptop for £1.2k.

Now that training is over I have some time to upskill so I’ll start posting my studies and linking the resources I’m using because I feel like lots of people want to learn how to get into tech but it’s hard to do it on your own.

[brumadeavalon]

256th day of the year

then happy programmer day for us 👩‍💻

[realtsceline]

I’m just a pretty trans princess, sitting here asking to have her sucked for Valentine , is it really a lot to ask for? 👸🌹💌

[feloire]

[papanowo]

good luck kiss :]

[theambitiouswoman]

How To Network 🤝📱💬

Have a Plan: Because everyone is important, it's really important to know what you're good at. Before you go to any networking event, figure out what you're good at – like things you can do well, what you know, and the people you know. Plan what you want to talk about, especially how you can help others, either now or later on.

Start with Who You Know: Talk to people you already know, like friends and colleagues. Ask if they can introduce you to others.

Go to Events: Attend conferences, seminars, workshops, industry meetups, and social gatherings related to your field of interest.

Use Social Media: Make profiles on websites like LinkedIn or Instagram to meet people in your niche online.

Elevator Pitch: Create a concise and engaging intro that highlights who you are, what you do, and what you're seeking. This way you can make a strong first impression.

Ask Good Questions: When you talk to someone, ask questions that show you're interested in what they're saying.

Provide Value: Networking is a two-way street. Offer your expertise, assistance, or connections to others whenever possible. When you start paying attention to what people can do, you might see that one person could help another person. Try to introduce people who you think have something valuable to share. When you make these good connections, you're helping the networking event go well. This will help you establish a good reputation and create strong relationships.

Say Thank You: After meeting, send a message to say you enjoyed the talk.

Follow up & Follow Through: If you said you would talk to someone later, make sure you actually do it and let them know you're still happy to help. If you promised to introduce one person to another, take a moment to make that introduction.These small things really matter to people, and just one introduction could make someone's life better.

Meet Different People: Don't just talk to the same kind of people. Meet people from different jobs and places.

Never dismiss anyone as unimportant: Don't think someone is not important just because of their job title. They could know important things or have helpful friends you wouldn't know about if you didn't give them a chance.

Join Groups: Be part of clubs or groups related to your work. You can meet more people there.

Be Yourself: Just be you. Don't pretend to be someone else.

Learn New Things: Keep learning about your interests. It helps you have better conversations.

[chrollohearttags]

NAIL TECH MIKASA

[niobiumao3]

Loving how we post Phee hate in the Tech tag like that's just the grossest most juvenile nonsense.

Anyways she's amazing, every episode she's in is improved by her presence, I hope she's the key to de-programming a CX-Tech so everyone can die mad about it. 😊

[zzzzzestforlife]

🖥️🖱️Software Engineer's Goals for a Long & Healthy Career 🌷

i've been wrestling with this question for a long time: what are my career goals?

the problem is, this question easily becomes, "what should my career goals be?" which is the wrong question to be asking.

the more people i meet through my work, the more i see what different lifestyles and goals look like, and the more i'm able to crystallize my own ideal. this might change the more i learn, but for now, my main goal is to keep enjoying my chosen career path for a long time and here's how i'm going to do it:

🤗 be a people person

i'm an introvert-extrovert hybrid who can gain energy from both alone time and socializing, depending on the vibes, so i also want to improve my vibes that i give to people!

emulate the contagious positive attitudes of the mood-makers on my team — embrace the risk of awkward moments and silences, be curious! 😺

set up intros/catch-ups with coworkers again!! — i did this so much when i was starting out in my career that i think i burnt myself out a bit, but i want to slowly start back up again in a more sustainable way because there are some amazing people i've never reached out to because i've been too shy and now they've left the company, so i can't easily chat with them anymore 😭

improve my mentoring skills — i had such good mentors when i was starting out and continue to be positively influenced by my senior colleagues, and i want to be the same source of support for my juniors! 🙏

🤖 lead more projects

from my past leadership experiences, i've been on the fence about whether i want this or not, honestly. "the responsible one" has been such a big part of my personality for so long that i feel like rebelling against it and trying to be responsible for as little as possible, but on the other hand, i also think it's a good kind of stress that i can grow from and that this is exactly the kind of skillset that will serve me well even if AI takes over my job someday.

❓ check assumptions — i tend to default to being a big picture person, but the big picture is made up of many minute details that are important to keep track of, so i want to get better at this. i know i can't think of everything, but i want to slowly become more observant and thorough 🔍

💬 improve my communication skills — i tend to get flustered when explaining technical details and sometimes even when i think of something, i hesitate to speak up. maybe this is more confidence than communication, but confidence is such a vague thing to try to improve on, communication is more concrete ☺️

🎧 treat coding time more sacredly

i start to get really stressed whenever i multitask, but i continue to do it because oftentimes it feels like it's the only way i'll manage to get anything done. still, i don't want to make it too much of a habit or i'll just keep burning out. i want to see if i can still be productive while doing one thing at a time.

🎶 put relaxing music on when coding

⌨️ consider blocking off focus time or at least setting a heads-down status on slack

📱 if someone messages you and it's not urgent, for the love of god, stop dropping everything to respond immediately and schedule it for later

[angystudiesstuff]

01/12/2022

Happy December guys!!! It’s my birthday soon and I’m looking forward to taking the day off and having a ridiculous amount of cake and sparkling wine. 🥂

Study update:

I’ve decided to get the AZ-104 qualification before the new year, I got the AZ-900 a few months ago and this just feels like most logical next step.

I’ve scheduled 4 hours of study every work day so that I don’t need to study on the weekends and will have done 64 hours of study by the end of the 23rd. After Christmas I plan to do practice exams before I take my exam on the 28th.

For my AZ-104 prep I’m using the full course from exam pro - you can see the full video on YouTube for free, it’s 11 hours long though. I paid for the course extras so that I could get access to the cheat sheets, practice exams and flash cards. I also got the official Microsoft practice exam and will be using YouTube for more example questions.

No one prepared me for how expensive these exams would be though 😭 I need to pass first time so that I don’t have to spend more money. If I find any ways of earning a voucher for this course I’ll definitely make a post about this because I’ve spent about £250 on the exam and all the materials that I can’t access for free.

Keep an eye out for a post on the cheapest way to prep for and sit both the AZ-900 and AZ-104.

[negrete1]

What would you do

If you have me right now 🌹🍆

[al1ie56]

🍓❤️🍓

[brynejane61]

Want me message me on telegram: @Bryne23

[r34needfulthings]