Rebecca Hussain joined Datalynx as a Support Engineer last year, and has already made a significant contribution with her professionalism, willingness to learn and ability to both apply and teach. She shares her experiences of entering what has been, and can be, a male-dominated profession.
I started off, like many kids, with an annoying “why” phase. Why is the sky blue? Why do I get a zap when I touch metal railings? Why does it rain? In my case it never stopped after childhood. After relentless research and gaining access to a computer, I was left pondering the question: ‘Why does a computer seem to hold all the answers?’
During my school years, I wasn’t allowed to take Computer Science as one of my GCSEs. In Year 9, I eagerly chose what was labeled a ‘boys subject’ only to discover upon entering Year 10 that I had been pigeon-holed into Sociology – a subject deemed easier and perhaps better suited for my female brain Fortunately, Mathematics and Science is mandatory for all students, which kept my curiosity alive.
I only ever gained a true feel for technology once I was at university. Access and exposure are greater in higher education, but I often still felt undermined. I studied Physics, meaning I had opportunities to develop hardware and software skills; one of these included an introductory course to Python, where I still found myself treated as a damsel in distress every time I asked a question. The majority of my cohort were men.
With that being said, the root of my passion for data and technology came from my love and fascination for Quantum Computation, something I studied intensely during my final year. The amount of data a quantum computer can process and the processing speed is incredible. A quantum computer could probably decide what I want for dinner before I can! So, I chose to continue down the yellow brick road of data technology.
Now entering this industry, I thought I had overcome the small battles. As a young ethnic woman in a competitive male dominated industry, I’ve had my fair share of being spoken over, credit on hard work being taken, and received no recognition on projects. Yet it was the subtleties that got to me. The differences between a man’s email, signed off with just their name, compared to a woman’s email signed off with “Best wishes to you and your family”. Nevertheless, I am reminded by other women of the significance of giving my all and striving for excellence.
Nevertheless, I persist in giving my utmost effort. Always learning and striving to earn respect in the realm of data technology. Developing with respected languages and tools, passing the Certified Kubernetes Application Developer exam. I have engaged in significant large-scale data and data migration projects alongside field specialists. Additionally, I have led industry talks to inspire and share knowledge to future developers. I am so grateful to be in the position to be able to teach and remind aspiring developers that diversity is strength. Diversity doesn’t mean sex, race and age. Diversity means new ways of thinking, new ways of growing and new ways of achieving.
