This article is part of the #ChooseToChallenge campaign by Hashnode.
I have and will always believe that women are legends. But most people in the world do not appreciate or acknowledge the hard work women put in every day to scale across different areas of lives, so it almost feels like women are underrated legends. By underrated legends, I mean women in tech are not rated or highly valued enough like their male counterparts
Don’t believe me? Here’s a brief example. 👇🏾
Sometime in 2019, I collaborated with another team at the company I used to work with to write a technical article on one of our products. I wanted to add a design to the article, so I reached out to the design team. The design team shared the design with the team lead I was working with, and I noticed he didn’t like the design. An ideal approach would have been for him to give his feedback and proposed changes, but he said, and I quote, “ I know it’s a female designer that created this.” That statement showed that he didn’t value the skills of women in the design space and believed they were not good enough. Astonished by his perception, I had to speak up and challenge his perception of the issue until he realized he was wrong.
As I did, we can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality in the tech ecosystem and the world because biased mindsets will change when we do.
As we celebrate International Women’s Day this year, I stand with everybody lending a voice and #ChooseToChallenge:
- Every system, perception, & ideology portraying women as undervalued and underrated.
- People who don’t speak up when they see their colleague or random person say something condescending to women.
- People who do not acknowledge the essential value women bring to the world.
- People who do not celebrate women's achievements.
Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world. Let’s work together!