International Women’s Day: being a female developer in a male dominated industry!

On this IWD we wanted to put the spotlight on one of our very own, our fab Jasmin, and what it is like being a developer in a traditionally male dominated industry.

Just like Jasmin, we think IWD is definitely a nice to have but we shouldn’t just celebrate all the amazing women just on this one day. We need to be doing more every day to change the status quo.🙌

What is it like working in a traditionally male dominated role? (time’s are changing!)

Unfortunately I’ve had experiences of being discriminated for being a female web developer, and what was even more shocking is the discrimination came both from men and women for different biases! Maybe it’s because these differences are still so engrained into our society.

Being a woman in a male dominated industry still feels a bit odd sometimes.I’m based in Italy so this may just be here, but companies are interested in your age as a woman. I don’t know why but age is a very important matter, a discriminating foothold when it comes to job interviews. So, it’s important if you’re above 30 and are a woman, but it’s not if you are a man.

Very confusing, right?

At least, this is how most of the companies think in Italy, and I don’t know if it’s really just an Italian problem or, you know… if it’s like this around the world.

But here in Italy, if you are a woman, they will ask you your age – AND even though it’s forbidden by law – if you are engaged/married, if you are planning to have children and how many children you already have, during a job interview. In this day and age, surely this needs to change.All questions made up to discredit you as a worker, to put a tag on you and make you feel inadequate to work because you may have other priorities and cannot be a mother and an employee at the same time.

What can be done to change this?

I think that there’s a lot to be done in this direction, and that things are developing in a really slow way.For example, there are web development courses meant just for women: I don’t think that we need these kind of things. Some may think this is doing us a favour, but it can be equally as discriminating. Why do we need a female specific development course. Why can’t we be on a course for all?🤔

What message would you like to tell other women who may be put off working in a traditionally male dominated role?

The job of a developer it’s a really creative one and many girls and women should be encouraged to enrol in tech and science courses from the start, otherwise it would be a great loss.

Final thoughts..

At GreenJinn, I have found none of the above and I’m really happy in my role. I’m actually a bit surprised how this has not been an issue at all. I thought the types of discrimination and comments were the norm even though we are told it should not be happening. So I am taking note when I find good workplaces!💚