Tell us a little about yourself?

I’m a Senior Fullstack Technical Specialist currently working with Dept. of Human Services. I have about 13 years of IT experience starting off as an Analyst Programmer within Java Programming space. I’ve worked with companies including NAB, Vanguard, Coles, Medibank, AMP and government agencies like Dept. of Justice and Dept. of Premier in the past. I enjoy programming and design where each day is different and you learn new things every day.

Who are the women who have inspired you most in your life?

My mother inspired me from the beginning to be a good human being. Everything else falls into place after that. When you become a good human, you tend to have high EQ, passion, sincerity towards work, hardworking ethics and a yearning to learn more. All of these qualities slowly transpire into you becoming an asset for anyone (Work or Home) which is very hard to overlook.  I thank my mum for giving me that first and most important lesson in life.

Any other female leaders you look up to?

Sushma Swaraj who was an Indian politician and had been union minister for Foreign affairs. She has been a fierce competitor, great orator, highly confident, well-educated and highly respected. She changed my perception about women more broadly and I started respecting women even more after seeing her journey.

Why do you think it’s important to increase the number of women in business, particularly in leadership roles?

Women are natural leaders. Whenever a woman has become a leader, she has changed the destiny of business or for that matter even a country. If there’s a woman leader in any of my constituency, I vote for her. They have naturally high empathy which is the key for success to any business or country. Women also generally have more consideration of the growth along with betterment of workers and people in an organisation.

What do you think are barriers for women in the recruitment process?

I think a barrier for many women is their own mindset. Women often lack the confidence to back themselves up in the recruitment process. More generally, I think it’s hard for women today because there is so much competition and pressure through the media. These translate into the way they think and the way they groom themselves and prepare for the future. Fortunately there are good role models for them to look up to (they don’t have to look too far, one of them is already available at home, their mum), then their mindset would change and help open up windows of opportunities for them.

What do you think contributes to the lack of females taking the plunge in entrepreneurship?

I think it’s the lack of confidence and again the mindset. First step is the most difficult step. But, if they can get the encouragement from their loved ones, nothing can stop them. They just need to reach out and have confidence in themselves. The world will be at their feet.

What more can be done to support women in male-dominated industries?

I have seen in IT, there are lots of developers who are mostly males. Hardly are there any female developers. I guess it goes down to the schooling and education. From the very beginning, there’s a tendency to alienate girls from Maths and Science either through false propaganda or by encouraging the culture of “not so cool”. In fact women have the tendency to be the best developers as they are very patient compared to men. And this patience is required to be the best of the developers. We need to continue encouraging more girls to study STEM so there can be more women in these fields.