Here it goes ladies! I have been holding this in and I have been asked on more than one occasion to post a story about woman in Technology.
Baby Bumps and Technology
The Fear of Being Pregnant in a Man’s World; the Tech World
o One-third of women older than 35 are still in junior positions.
o Women in the tech industry earn 29% less than their male counterparts.
o Three out of four girls express an interest in computer science.
o One out of four jobs held by women in the IT industry, says women in technology statistics 2019.
o In the last 40 years, almost 90% of all information technology licenses were made by male-only teams. Less than 2% of tech teams included women.
o 20% of engineering graduates are women and only 11 % of working engineers are women.
M, M. (n.d.). 14 Women in Technology Statistics to Know in 2021. https://leftronic.com/blog/women-in-technology-statistics/.
Maternity leave is a conundrum in all fields — only 12 percent of U.S. private sector personnel have access to paid family leave through their employers, according to the Department of Labor. So, my question is, if I may; What is the inconvenience of woman going through the phases of life?
26th November 2019, I worked for a very respectable organization as an Information Security Research Specialist/SOC Analyst on a military base. I took on my responsibilities and whatever else I needed to learn to stay an asset to my employers but also because we were a good team and bringing all that I could to the table was important to me. I worked under this company for a year and was progressing very finely up the totem pole. I toiled with a team of 8, me making it 9 and the only female on board.
The first year was not a walk in the park, nevertheless, I was applauded, in addition to, given recognition for the pace that I kept when we were critically understaffed during a pandemic. (No matter how hard the path is someone is always watching, especially females, remember that) I self-taught myself many tasks along with other people’s jobs to see too it that projects were not neglected. I had to learn how to — speak and write- many executive documents had to be presented to those in other departments of the military and private sector executives.
COVID19 broke out again, nearly half my team was out sick, projects still needed to be completed and deadlines were still expected to be met; I held the fort down working many over nights and even from home. I was 5 months pregnant and high risk. Terrified if one slip up took place, I would be out the door, if one deadline was missed, I would be the blame for it all. After contemplating to seize my pregnancy due to the fear of losing my job because I was “needed” in site… Two months after my last promotion I miscarried. Given no time to rest and recoup from the trauma my body was going through and had went through (I slipped one time taking time off) — my position was eliminated… The explanation was due to budget cuts within the organization from the result of COVID-19. That promotion was a blessing and a curse at the same time, however; the real question was, was this cut due to me being one of the high-ranking youngest females at my max pay raise within two years of my employment or was it due to me being pregnant, having complications and needing time off?
“The share of women in cyber code security is 14%.”
“Almost half of the tech educated women with children leave their job or are forced to walk away with a settlement or not.”
M, M. (n.d.). 14 Women in Technology Statistics to Know in 2021. https://leftronic.com/blog/women-in-technology-statistics/.
Sofya Polyakov, CEO and co-founder of The Noun Project says “Three years into my company, I became pregnant. I kept it to myself for three months, and I was really, really nervous to tell my investors — not because of anything they’ve said, just because women have a fear they’ll be seen as not participating fully after having a baby.”
Here I am in the same boat terrified being that I am three months pregnant. I am with an organization that muffles woman so I can imagine if I have to take personal time or have to work from home to take care of me and my baby; I’ll soon be looking for another job. I often wondered how other females’ stories turned out.
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer; Marissa demanded her time off and exercised professional and family balance. Katrina Schneider, CEO, and founder of Ritual went through similar situation as well, except after she had her beautiful baby boy, she went straight into work the next day working a full 8 hour plus shift, not thinking about the pain and trauma her body just went through, and prolonging healing while also putting her life in danger. Disclaimer to the second part of my story. I miscarried and found out that a cyst ruptured on my ovaries causing the doctors to go in again and remove the other one as well. If it wasn’t for the new doctor friend (Dr. Katrina Yue), I met, along with, my two roommates… sadly I would have done the same thing with stitches in me and all; I would have gone to work and worked a full 8 hours the best I could with no complaints and suffered with a smile. We are in the 21st century — When will equality kick in? I as well as many other women are sitting back deciding on whether to go forth with something that we love or to fall back and settle with what we can get in the corporate world.
When is enough… enough? Why are woman put in the position to decide wither to be able to do something they love and provide for their families or walk away due to discrimination and openly being shamed –