WP Engine welcomed in-person and digital attendees from the Austin chapter of Society of Girls Engineers (SWE) on Wednesday night time at our headquarters in downtown Austin, TX.
Sponsored by Roar, a WP Engine worker useful resource group (ERG) centered on promotion, schooling, and advocacy for ladies, the occasion was a wonderful alternative for attendees to listen to immediately from ladies in senior software program engineering roles in regards to the tactical work they’re engaged in day-to-day in addition to the challenges they’ve encountered all through their careers.
WP Engine has lengthy supported initiatives surrounding ladies in tech, and collaborating with SWE which has been a champion for ladies engineers for greater than 70 years, was a pure match.
WP Engine Sr. Software program Engineers Parul Priya and Ramya Iyer led the session, facilitating particular discussions on the lifecycle of a site, approaches to managing safety considerations, and alternatives for tuning web site efficiency.
Priya and Iyer additionally shared character-building skilled experiences—together with bouts with impostor syndrome—which led them to their present roles and continued progress of their careers.
“In the beginning of my profession, I used to be typically afraid of talking up if I wasn’t optimistic that what I used to be about to say was 100% correct,” Priya mentioned throughout the occasion.
“However that thought course of harm each me and my staff. First, it robbed me of a studying alternative. If I used to be mistaken, there was actually somebody who may have helped me study why. And if there was even somewhat reality in what I used to be saying, my staff may have benefited from it and used that data to enhance.”
The state of ladies within the tech trade is bettering, however there’s loads of room for enchancment. In response to a Funds On-line survey, the composition of the tech sector workforce in 2019 was 67% male and 33% feminine.
Much more regarding, solely 22% of survey respondents had been in a position to identify a feminine position mannequin within the tech trade, driving house the significance of bringing ladies collectively to debate their journeys to success—it’s very important within the effort to cut back the disparity between women and men in tech.
Wednesday night time’s occasion sought to do exactly that, as two senior engineers from WP Engine provided their experience round a number of the extra technical points of managed WordPress internet hosting whereas reflecting on challenges they’ve confronted in their very own careers.
Each audio system expertly defined the advantages of managed internet hosting and varied methods to optimize WordPress websites whereas tying in private tales about their very own experiences and progress.
“I had set this studying problem for myself, however I spotted there’s no approach I’m going to study all the pieces directly,” Iyer informed attendees. “Am I an information scientist? No, not but. However I’m studying on the job, and I don’t must have all of the solutions to achieve success.”
By sharing from their very own lives, it grew to become clear that these emotions typically don’t have anything to do with our precise talents. And by overcoming imposter syndrome, we open a path for much more individuals to imperfectly enhance each on-line outcomes for web sites and the present state of STEM for all ladies.
In the event you’d prefer to study extra, join with the Society of Girls Engineers and go to WP Engine to study extra about Roar, our different ERGs, and our Open Hearts initiative.
About Society of Girls Engineers
SWE’s mission is to empower ladies to realize their full potential in careers as engineers and leaders; broaden the picture of the engineering and know-how professions as a optimistic power in bettering the standard of life, and display the worth of variety and inclusion.
About Roar
Roar’s mission is to offer a protected, open surroundings for all to advertise, educate, and advocate for ladies throughout WP Engine to realize their skilled aspirations the place alternatives have traditionally been restricted.
