The first time I realized that Odun Eweniyi was female, I was in shock for a long time. I felt pride; the "oh my gosh she's female, and I'm female too so I can definitely crack this tech thing kind" and I remember texting one of my friends and gushing about it and he seemed surprised I didn't know. I didn't, and until tomorrow I still don't know how I didn't realise it.
Maybe it didn't help that at the time I started to hear about her, she had this "10x tech bro on her bio" and an animated picture with dreads. Most tech bros wear dreads fgs!
And I guess you might make a case for me checking her media, but to be honest, checking people's media on Twitter isn't something I usually do. I sometimes forget that Twitter even lets you upload those things.
It wasn't until an article came out citing influential women in tech, that I realised she was female. I was so mind blown, dear God and to be honest, that period gave me the courage I needed to continue in my journey. I might not build another piggy bank, but I'd keep pushing, one line of code at a time.
Side note: This is a long shot, but Odun if you ever read this, I'm sorry for the gender misrepresentation.
That was example number one.
Example number two: A few weeks ago, I remember gushing to my friends that the writer of Cracking The Coding Interview was female. I'd been reading the book for a while and had never guessed it or researched the gender of the author. I do know though, that I noticed the:
Use of the "her" pronoun in the book more than I've seen in any other tech-related book and
When she was giving tips to recruiters for the behavioural aspect, she told them to be a little more patient with interviewees that might not necessarily be used to talking about themselves e.g. females. I was grateful to the author for that tiny inclusion, but it never crossed my mind she could be female. I just thought they were being gender-inclusive, which was beautiful.
How did I find out?
I got bored one time, stopped following the book topic by topic and went to the author's section.
There were literal tears in my eyes.
I couldn't believe it, and what's worse? I started wondering why I never thought the author could be female.
The answer? Conditioning.
For most people, the first time you hear a person in tech, you automatically think "female". I can't count the number of times I've been in a group chat, helped someone out and got the "thanks bro" response. Or someone texts you on social media for help and starts with "Hey bro, can you help me with...", usually, I don't mind and I'd help out without bothering to correct the gender misinterpretation, but these days I'm beginning to be a bit more outspoken about it.
Why? So I can help push the narrative that "hey, there are females in tech too."
One time, someone asked if there were females on a backend group chat I'm on and one person legit said "girls can't be in the backend, it's too hard for them". I wasn't online at the time, but I was thankful that the women and some men in the group spoke up and told him that narrative was wrong. He apologised, but the truth is, it's not the first time I'd be hearing something like that.
People always react with surprise - both pleasant, impressed and otherwise when I say I'm a BE dev.
I might not have all the answers or tips to get us out of this situation, but here's what I can say:
In the just-concluded Google I/O conference, a total of 75 (yes! you read the number correctly), women were speakers. In the keynote speech alone, I counted about three women of colour, among the other women that spoke. It did things to my psyche.
I was excited, and so...
…inspired.
So yes, we can take a few tips from the tech giant. Adding to my observation, I'd say these:
Let women show up in more key roles. It might not seem like much, but seeing someone who shares similarities with you doing mind-blowing things can be all the inspiration you need. Case-in-point, think of all the black kids that held onto the hope that they'd be doctors too because of Dr Ben Carson's story. Some of us were almost disowned because we refused to study medicine, lol.
Accommodate the thought that "women can too". If you hear an accomplishment, except it's explicitly stated, don't just automatically assume that it's "male". Give room to the thought that it could be female too. Even if it turns out to be male, somehow you've conditioned yourself to believe that women can do these things too.
Openly correct misrepresentations. Even as a female, you might be tempted to let it slide when you're referred to as "bro", but the truth is, if that continues the narrative that tech is a "male" thing would continue to foster. It'd be selling a "this is for the boys, but women are welcome too" story, and to be honest, historically, that's wrong. Especially in software engineering.
Also, as a female in tech, please we need you to be a little more vocal about what you do. I just got this one yesterday. I figured, that if I want adequate representation in tech, it has to start with me. And what better way than to speak up about my role?
Seeing other females do it helped me. I'm hoping I represent enough in my capacity to help someone else.
Peace, Love and Light - Precious🕊✌