IT has always been a field where male employees were in the majority. Although the workplace "pigeonholing" is starting to fade nowadays and fields are becoming increasingly diversified, women still make up only 10-15% of IT employees. But what is it like for a woman to hold her own in this sector? Judit, a colleague at Enrol Consulting Kft., tells us how she got from the military to programming, what experiences she has gained during her career so far, and we take a brief look ahead at what she expects from the future.
Tell us about yourself — what did you study, how did you start your career?
I graduated from high school in 2006, and I didn't really know what I wanted to do — I was searching for the right direction for my path. I studied economics at the University of Szeged for two years, then I felt this wasn't my path.
In 2008 I became a soldier, and that's when I started officer training. I gathered a lot of experience there and it reshaped my life — I owe a great deal to that period. Needless to say, this is the real "men's section," where women get to experience what it's like to pursue a career in a field where almost everything signals "there's no place here for a woman." I managed to hold my own there, and I felt I had finally found my path, but unfortunately life had it that I had to move on. There were health reasons behind that.
After that, over the years I tried my hand in several fields, which are a sharp contrast to the world of IT — actually, back then it never even occurred to me that I could head in this direction too. I always quickly picked up the rhythm of a given workplace, adapted fast to the circumstances, and tried to hold my ground, but something was still missing to make it feel complete.
How did you decide to try yourself at an IT company?
I didn't plan it at all. I was continuously searching for my way, so whatever came along and I found challenging, I tried it. That's how it happened with this too — I just dove in.
Why did you decide to choose this particular company?
Here I was given the opportunity to start learning completely from scratch and show what I was capable of. It's very rare to experience a place where you're given trust even though you haven't proven anything on the table yet. That in itself was very motivating and full of challenges. For me it has always been important that whatever I put my name to, or whatever I committed to, I do it while giving everything I've got.
The support from the company was maximal, and as I kept progressing and expanding my knowledge, I grew to like this field more and more. As a whole new world starts opening up in front of you, giving you a completely new perspective, it drives you more and more to want to learn even more.
Hard, persistent work always ends in a sense of achievement in the end, because we're able to overcome ourselves and keep moving forward.
How were you received? Was it hard for you as a woman to fit into an IT company's team?
I didn't find it difficult at all, since I was already used to the so-called "men's world" from my previous jobs, so this wasn't any different from the rest. I think how a person is received doesn't primarily depend on the field, but on what kind of personality they actually are. If someone knows that they're better as part of a team than alone, has the right humility toward their work, and is open to taking in new things, then there shouldn't be any problem.
How did you manage to cope with the professional challenges in this new field?
The company's leader, Dávid, places great emphasis on everyone having the appropriate knowledge and professional experience in the field where they work. Since we do our work at different companies, every day we represent our workplace in a different environment. That's exactly why it's so important that our preparation is as good as it can be. So there's a continuous opportunity to learn, and beyond that, within the framework of internal professional training, we have the opportunity to expand our professional knowledge whenever someone feels the need for it.
How do partners react when a woman shows up representing the company?
I think a lot depends on how the "new programmer" colleague is introduced. What I experienced was that they were accepting toward me, but at the beginning I received fewer questions directly — though I interpreted this more as not being about me being a woman, but rather that they were worried I had less technical knowledge as a beginner. Over time, though, this dissolved too, once they saw that I could also help them with professional questions.
Do you sense any kind of distinction being made by men within the profession?
I haven't experienced any kind of discrimination — I think the issue isn't gender here either, but how we're able to represent ourselves, what our communication is like, and whether we're able to treat our colleagues as equals. It's important that we represent the right values, and through that create a workplace atmosphere around ourselves where everyone can feel like an equal — this should be expected from women and men alike.
Do disagreements arise with your male colleagues on professional matters?
Yes, there are differences of opinion, but I think these mainly stem from the fact that women and men think according to completely different logic. Women, for instance, tend to run several threads at once, so they may see a given case more holistically, but in many cases the matter at hand requires clearer, more streamlined thinking, which I think is men's strength. They're better at shutting out external factors and focusing on just one thing, but I think it's this diversity that moves the company forward. Two viewpoints are always worth more than one, and if those viewpoints are also completely different, then we can always open up yet another door to a solution.
What do you expect from the future — what can this field offer you?
I've grown very fond of this field, and the sense of vocation, which has always been important to me, keeps growing stronger. I think this will be a lifelong learning process for anyone who chooses this path. It's a very bumpy road, but it also comes with a lot of challenges and growth. I want to keep developing and gain more and more experience, so I can keep getting better and better, and prove to those who don't think so that women really do have a significant role to play in the world of IT.
May Judit be a role model for all those women who seek challenges, and who love and want to learn and grow. The presence of women in the IT sector opens the door to more colorful, broader problem-solving and customer handling. Beyond individual growth and a sense of achievement, corporate growth and success can also be guaranteed.
