Are there unique challenges involved in being a female working in IT?

Although the number of women working in IT has increased, it still can be seen as an unusual career choice for women particularly in the more purely technical roles. I've found myself on many occasions explaining why I work in the field and on some occasions I've been very disappointed when my technical advice was accepted only after being validated by a male colleague. It's not like being a nurse or in another female dominated profession where preconceptions are accurate. I've been stopped at airports because I have a tool kit for example and regarded with suspicion, because after all why would a woman want to travel with a tool kit in her purse?

As women advance in their careers and gain more experience and confidence I think this happens less and we are judged less on these preconceptions and more on the results we produce for our organizations. I think it is terribly important that those women, who have made a success of working in an ICT role, act as role models and mentors to younger women who are making their way along the career path. That is the whole premise of Go Girl, Go for IT Careers Showcase. (See story)

What do you find most rewarding about working in IT?

Problem-solving and business process improvement, without a doubt. ICT touches everything and it has become more and more exciting to work in this field as ICT has moved out of the back office and into the mainstream. ICT is more vital and interesting now than it was in the past. More people understand technology, use it themselves in their work and home lives. Adoption of technology isn't a problem - instead the problem solving is around fitting the right solution, at the right time, at an acceptable cost. I am delighted that the "us and them" or "IT and Business" is being left behind and ICT staff are working collaboratively with other areas of their organizations to extract maximum value from ICT.

What does the future hold for your career or are you content with where you are at?

Longer term I am looking at how I can add 'coaching' skills to my kit bag, so right now I am studying a Post Graduate Diploma in Executive and Life Coaching at Curtin University. At the same time, I am really enjoying my current role. I am contracted to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA to assist them in the strategic planning and transformation of ICT. Part of that transformation will be to move ICT from being purely IT focused to a more diverse approach of managing all information in line with strategic goals.

You are a founding member of WIT WA. Can you briefly explain what this organization is?

WIT stands for "Women are IT."

We aim to provide a framework upon which women in information technology can extend their network and expand their knowledge in an environment that encourages open conversation and debate. We want to encourage women to choose IT as a career and raise the status of women in Australian business, in the IT industry in particular. I started WIT WA after meeting Jenny Barbour, the founder of Women are IT (Melbourne) and being inspired to start up a chapter in WA. In part, it was because I was isolated in my role as a female IT manager and I had a desire to increase my professional network to include other female managers.

How many members does WIT WA have?

We now have more than 300 members - women and men who have in common the goal to see more women enter the ICT profession and stay there to make their unique contributions.

You will be speaking about the history of women in IT at the Go Girl, Go for IT showcase. Who are some of the notable women that you will be discussing?

Ada Lovelace - the daughter of the English poet Lord Byron. She was a mathematician, and worked on the analytic engine with Charles Babbage, devising a method of programming based on the cards used on a Jaquard weaving loom. The US Army's programming language ADA is named after her.

Also,Grace Hopper who developed the first compiler for the Univac computer in the mid-fifties. Her work continued the development of Fortran and Cobol programming languages, which she helped write and later refined and standardized as a member of the Standards Committee.

There's also the beautiful 1940s actress Hedy Lamarr, who was behind the development of the Spread Spectrum and the six women that joined the World War II effort as "computers" for the Army's Ballistics Research Laboratories in a Philadelphia project where they worked on a new, top-secret machine. These programmers were handed the schematics of the machine and told to make it perform numerical calculations for the war effort, which is what they did, using hundreds of cables, dozens of digit trays and 3000 switches.