Supporting women in tech is an important initiative at Intuit. We believe that at technology companies, the people who invent technology should be as diverse as the people who use it. According to NCWIT, gender-diverse teams improve innovation and productivity. Several years ago, we created an initiative called Tech Women @ Intuit, which is committed to providing development and growth opportunities for women in technical roles.
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This past week, I had the opportunity to attend TechCrunch Disrupt for the Women @ Disrupt breakfast at TechCrunch, an invitation-only event for women attendees to the conference that Intuit sponsored. Within the conference, Intuit hosted a panel with CNET Editor-in-Chief Connie Guglielmo and two “very important tech women…no, two very important tech leaders,” Raji Arasu and Marianna Tessel, both technology leaders at Intuit.
Raji and Marianna shared great tips on how to support women in tech, as well as their personal experiences that have helped them. A few tips include:
- Don’t be always mentally at work. The tech industry can be intense, and as a result, it can feel like you are expected to be on-call 24/7. Let go of that feeling, and give yourself permission to mentally step away from your work.
- Know where you are situationally. Be aware to changes within your organization. Don’t be surprised to the external forces that also shape your career.
- Join a community. At Intuit, we have a Tech Women at Intuit community that helps attract, retain and advance women at the organization. It is a great support system.
- Look at the small things you can do to be more sensitive. Being sensitive to the small things, like not scheduling meetings during school drop-off or pick-up time, or creating an environment where people can leave to go to a parent-teacher conference, can make a big difference.
- Don’t give up. Balancing work and family can be a constant challenge, but it can also be incredibly rewarding, especially if your children end up in the same industry as you. Persevere through those difficult times and think big picture.
- Give up the idea of perfection. Be laser-focused on how you want to spend your time. Delegate what you can. Give yourself permission to let go of things that are not high priority.
- Believe in yourself. Be confident to go in the path that you want to go in. Don’t let others tell you that you should be in a more supportive role, or draw you to a role you are not interested in.
- Adopt a growth mindset. If you are not able to do something today, realize that you can learn it. Don’t assume that it is something you cannot do.
You can check out the full replay from the panel here.