Graphic design, project management, software sales – the career opportunities in technology are both obvious and sometimes obscure. Oklahoma Women in Tech offered a free retreat Friday in Tulsa to help female students explore the wide variety of occupations out there.
The annual spring retreat was hosted at the BOK Financial technology center with about 75 teenage girls participating. OKWIT also offers a fall retreat each year in Oklahoma City.
“This is a chance for students to meet several women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in their community, and to see firsthand how many opportunities are available to them when it comes to pursuing a technical career or STEM degree in Oklahoma,” said Cindy Silva, president of OKWIT.
Silva is an IT analyst at Diamondback Energy in Oklahoma City who remembers being interested in computers since childhood. As a business major in college, she chose management information systems as her field of focus.
While her peers in the school of business were about equally split between male and female, stepping into the workforce was a big change. Silva said she often was the only woman on the team and found no women in leadership positions.
OKWIT works to change that scenario by providing professional development to women in STEM fields and the annual spring and fall retreats for students.
The half-day event Friday gave a behind-the-scenes look into the variety of career opportunities available in Oklahoma’s growing tech industry through breakout sessions, panel discussions and hands-on activities.
“STEM careers aren’t for everyone but we’re opening their minds to it,” Silva said. “The volunteers and speakers we have all have different backgrounds. Some didn’t start in tech.”
Libby Ediger, CEO of Holberton Tulsa, a software engineering school, gave the keynote address, discussing the history of the gender divide in STEM fields and how young women can pursue a career in STEM.
“We know that part of the reason there is a gap in the number of women pursuing tech careers is because of the lack of mentors and advisers telling young women that the path exists,” Ediger said. “I love partnering with OK Women in Tech for spring retreat because it gives dozens of high school young women an opportunity to meet and learn from women in the industry, women who look like them and are from Tulsa. The tech jobs exist in spades in Tulsa.”
Students also heard from women working in tech careers at BOK Financial – Viviana Abrego, network engineer; Grace Havrilka, cyber-threat analyst; Lizzy Bales, senior director of enterprise architecture; and Sarah Stephenson, project manager.
“Because it’s such a male-dominated industry it can sometimes feel, as a girl or woman, that you don’t belong,” Abrego said. “But you do belong there, and as a girl, you are much more valuable because of the different way you experience the world versus a boy. Your thoughts, ideas and perspectives are that much more needed because of it.”
Havrilka said events like this help participants find a community of other girls interested in careers in STEM and create potential mentorship opportunities with women who have built successful careers in STEM – careers that may have gone undiscovered otherwise.
Silva said there is a gradual change in some industries of dropping the requirement for a college degree if the applicant acquired the tech skills needed through another training path, especially at startups and smaller companies. “I hope that opens more opportunities for people.”
Tech knowledge often is gained through doing. “I learned a lot on the job,” Silva said.
“The best part of my job is every day is different,” she said. “I’m building new capabilities and working with lots of different people. I get to solve fun and complex problems that help others.”
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