SHE WANTS TO ATTRACT MORE WOMEN TO THE INDUSTRY – AND SHE’S NOT SITTING AROUND WAITING FOR IT TO HAPPEN, SHE TELLS KIMBERLY SPYKERMAN.
SHE WANTS TO ATTRACT MORE WOMEN TO THE INDUSTRY – AND SHE’S NOT SITTING AROUND WAITING FOR IT TO HAPPEN, SHE TELLS KIMBERLY SPYKERMAN.
Jessie Xia doesn’t consider herself a techie. In fact, she trained as an accountant and later worked as a human resource (HR) manager. So how did the 40-year-old end up becoming managing director of the Singapore arm of Thoughtworks, a global software business that’s been named the top company for women in tech?
You could put that down to good old-fashioned hard work. Jessie first joined Thoughtworks China as its HR director but soon switched to a technology-related role as a business analyst.
“There were so many things to learn from scratch. Even if you don’t have to do coding, you have to understand the language, the platforms, methodologies and tools. That’s because you need to work together to analyse the software you need to build,” she says. That meant a few months of research and guidance from her colleagues before she could execute her role independently.
» Who says tech’s just for the boys?
Jessie’s story echoes the Thoughtworks philosophy – that as long as you have the right attitude, you can pick up the skills you need to get the job done.
It might explain why the company, which has its headquarters in Chicago, was last year named the top company for women in tech at the Grace Hopper Celebration, the largest conference in the world for women technologists.
Lauded for having the most female representation in tech roles, Thoughtworks beat out well-established names like Facebook and Google. Some 59 percent of its entry-level tech jobs are held by women, and the number of women in high-level tech jobs is also better than the industry average.
That spirit is what Jessie wants to replicate in the five-year-old Singapore office. “The misconception is that IT and engineering are not good jobs for women, that they’re too boring.
“Things are changing, and the ratio of women in these industries is increasing, but there’s still a gap,” she says. Currently, about 30 percent of Thoughtworks Singapore’s employees are women, and the company is working towards a fifty-fifty gender hiring policy. The year has got off to an encouraging start – of the 20 job offers it’s made so far, half were to women, for roles that were largely tech-related.
» Making her own magic
Still, hiring is only one part of the strategy. Jessie says Thoughtworks Singapore is already putting plans into motion to grow the talent pool of women in the industry.
It intends to set up an academy later this year, working with universities here to bridge the gap between academic learning and real-life experience for its undergraduates. This could take the form of internships, coaching, or collaborating on smaller projects.
Jessie says that they are looking at how the programme can help draw women with a keen interest in technology – and help them build their careers. “The idea came when, in our hiring process, we saw talent pool constraints. And we thought that instead of just fighting with other companies to get the top talent, why not try to create a bigger talent pool? We can train a lot of people, but we may only be able to hire some of them – which means the rest can go to other tech companies.”
That kind of big-picture thinking also extends to the company’s willingness to hire women who may not have the right skills. “We have hired people with zero coding experience who ultimately became very good developers,” says Jessie.
But the investment in such employees is significant – a six-week training programme, followed by a structured peer support system to help them adjust to the work. It’s why the company is judicious about hiring only those who are passionate and able to learn fast.
» Giving back
Beyond concrete steps togrow its own pool of female employees , Thought works Singapore also lends it sex pertise to tech-related non-profits like Coding Girls and Girls in Tech – to help participants see that a career in tech is viable. Organisations like these work to close the gender gap in industry by helping women pick up skills like coding, organising talks, and giving them opportunities to network with other women in tech.
Of course, it’s never too early to start planting the seeds. The company has plans to work with the Singapore Committee for UN Women to organise informal talks and networking sessions for girls aged between 13 and 15 who show an interest in a tech career.
» Walking the talk
But above all, Jessie says it’s about making sure that women succeed at their careers – even with all their responsibilities at home. And that means having working arrangements that are tailored to their needs –whether it means allowing them to work from home one day a week, or letting them off work an hour earlier each day.
“ Most of the time, they just need the flexibility, and not fewer working hours, especially if they have children. Even when they head back earlier, they’re working from home, and they’re trying to be successful, ”she says. “ If we want a higher female ratio in our company, we have to be prepared for this – and we are prepared.”
