When I took my first job, I was among only a handful of women. It was isolating at times. My love for technology kept me going, and I got to where I am today driven by my passion and self confidence.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
And so when I moved to IBM, I moved because I thought I could apply technology. I didn't actually have to do my engineer - I was an electrical engineer, but I could apply it. And that was when I changed. And when I got there, though, I have to say, at the time, I really never felt there was a constraint about being a woman. I really did not.
While it's true that women are the minority in most tech companies, I don't think that inhibits entry into the tech space. My motto has always been, 'Live What You Love,' and as such, I think it's incredibly important to do work you believe in and to work for a company that has values that align with your own, be it in tech or another industry.
I always tell women that the fact that you're different and that you're noticed, because there are few of us in the tech industry, is something you can leverage as an advantage.
I've never for a second felt like my job has been more of a struggle because I'm a woman.
I've never thought of myself as a female engineer or founder or a woman in tech. I just think of myself as someone who's passionate.
There was a previous generation of women who rose through the ranks in an environment when work and life were highly compartmentalized. And I think now, because of technology, we're always on. Where there used to be work life and home life, now it's one life. And I think a lot of companies don't recognize that.
In my career I have never felt that my being a woman was an obstacle or an advantage. I guess I've been oblivious.
At least through most of the 1960s, I basically lived in a man's world, hardly speaking to a woman all day except to the secretaries. But I was almost totally unaware of myself as an oddity and had no comprehension of the difficulties faced by working women in our organization and elsewhere.
I was never really a career woman. My life always came first.
I don't think of being a woman in an industry of men. I didn't walk into the kitchen and go, 'Ooh, I'm a girl!' I didn't get into my chosen profession. I wanted to be good at something.