Although there are plenty of initiatives encouraging young women into a career in tech, the reality is that men still outnumber women by a . ratio of 3:1 Additionally, by the time students choose their majors in college, only , and just 19% of computer science majors are women. 21% of engineering majors But one woman who has lived this experience, while also managing to carve out a successful career in tech despite the systemic obstacles standing in her way, is Lori Laub. She is the CEO and founder of TruCentive, an incentives delivery platform that allows businesses to send gifts, rewards, and incentives to employees. Driven by “pure passion” to pursue a tech career, Laub credits her parents with instilling the self-belief that she could achieve anything she set her mind to. “They presented reality without sugar-coating it,” she explains. “They informed me that some people might have advantages, such as better education, stronger connections, or greater resources, which could hinder or facilitate my journey. Nonetheless, they impressed upon me that, ultimately, the outcome would hinge on how I utilized the opportunities presented to me. Ambition counts “Although they didn't phrase it in these exact terms, I've come to realize they were imparting a crucial lesson: my gender, my background, or any other aspect of my identity were not the defining factors; rather, what counted was my ambition, my commitment to my goals, and the consistency of my efforts every single day. That doesn’t mean Laub’s career path has been smooth sailing. In fact, she admits that she’s had to overcome gender stereotypes throughout her career, especially in her twenties, when clients struggled to believe she was “in charge”, and also internally when a male colleague consistently referred to her as “little lady”. “His seniority in both position and age within the company was daunting. However, I reached a point where I felt compelled to take action,” she reveals. “Initially, I politely requested that he refrain from calling me that. Still, when the behavior continued, I decided to address him as 'little man' respectfully. This prompted a dialogue between us, after which he started to use my actual name. While he occasionally reverted to the old moniker, gently correcting him became easier over time, and he eventually ceased using it altogether.” While this approach might not work for everyone, Laub advocates that all workers, regardless of rank or gender, could benefit from some self-awareness. “Ultimately, the key is consistently presenting your best version of yourself while being truthful about your strengths and improvement areas… Perfection is unrealistic; it's essential for each of us to dedicate ourselves to improving our contributions to the organization and the way we deliver them.” Tech’s doors are opening Her advice to women hoping to break into tech is similar in sentiment: “The doors to the tech industry are increasingly open to women, and the opportunities continue to expand. The question now centers on how women leverage these opportunities to enhance the workplace for the generations of women who will follow.” Ready to accelerate your career path with a challenging new role? Focus your search on the which features thousands of roles in companies actively hiring, such as the three below. Hackernoon Job Board For those looking for a way to carve out a career in cybersecurity, Infoblox is hiring a . Reporting to the senior director of software engineering, you will design leading-edge, market-disrupting cybersecurity solutions and work alongside a team of people who share a passion for building the next generation of networking technologies. Interested? . Staff Software Engineer Apply here If aeronautics is more your thing, ENSCO, Inc. is hiring an to join its U.S. Space Force, Space Systems Command’s MILSATCOM Program. In this role you will support a diverse set of strategic and tactical systems and infrastructure in a multidisciplinary and collaborative environment and apply model-based system engineering to support the development of technical baselines. . Enterprise Requirements & Integration Engineer Find out more here Alternatively, if you want to delve into the world of AI, DataAnnotation is seeking a to train its AI chatbots to code. This flexible, part-time or full-time role which allows you to choose the projects you want to work on, involves coming up with diverse problems and solutions for a coding chatbot, writing high-quality answers and code snippets and evaluating the code quality produced by AI models for accuracy and performance. Want to know more? . Software Developer See the full job description here Find your next opportunity today via the HackerNoon Job Board By Aoibhinn Mc Bride

Between Two Computer Monitors: This story includes an interview between the writer and guest/interviewee. 

The is an opinion piece based on the author’s POV and does not necessarily reflect the views of HackerNoon.

This Is How You Can Break Barriers as a Young Woman in Tech

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