Women in I.T. - Don't try and be one of the boys!

ìWork in a way that suits your style rather than trying to be one of the boysî

ìThink like a man. Donít take anything personally ñ start the day without emotionsî

ìDonít harp on about being a woman; consider and treat yourself as an equal as differentiating yourself can have a negative effect.î

You could be forgiven for thinking that these comments may have come from male IT executives. In fact, these were points made by women, about women, at the recent ìAiming for the top ñ how to be a successful woman in IT ìevent hosted by career and networking portal womenintechnology.co.uk in conjunction with investment bank JP Morgan.

The event looked at women already achieving success in technology ñ and the key issues that need to be considered when looking to take your career to the next level - and included a lively Q&A session with senior JP Morgan executives.

While predictably many of the audienceís comments emphasised the importance of networking and access to mentors and role models, some women felt that it was important to leave gender out of the equation and get on with just being great at the job:

ìMale programmers may feel threatened by a woman as smart as them at first but will quickly see you as ëone of the boysí if you are competentî, commented one attendee. While another felt that it was important to have real confidence in your own ability: ìDonít see being female as a barrier to achieving success ñ itís all down to knowledge skills and experience combined with networking.î

However there was a note of caution from one attendee: ìIíve generally ignored the fact that Iím a woman and focussed on getting on with my job. As Iíve become more senior and have roles where personality seems to be a major component in success, this strategy is less successfulî

ìWith women making up only 20% of the UK technology workforce but accounting for 50% of the UK working population itís obvious that the technology profession is missing out on a wealth of female talentî says Maggie Berry, Director of womenintechnology.co.uk. While organisations obviously want to recruit the best employees regardless of gender, figures show that there are more women leaving the IT profession than joining it ñ IT departments need to therefore consider all the options for holding onto their female staff. Hopefully these networking events will go some way to promoting the IT industry as an employer of choice for women.î