WomenInTech. "Sometimes people underestimated my knowledge and experience," — successful young women from Central Asia on overcoming stereotypes

In an interview for the WomenInTech section, successful women share the challenges they faced in their careers and how they managed to prove their value and competence in the world of technology.

Evgeniya Gorodetskaya, city – Tashkent, Head of Business Support Systems Development Department, LinkedIn

About Me

I lead the Business Support Systems Development Department at Beeline Uzbekistan. We are actively working on several projects, some of which have already been implemented, while others are still in the development stage.

My professional journey began as a QA engineer. I built and configured test automation for software products across various platforms. At some point, I felt confined in my role, and striving to expand my skills, I mastered the role of a systems analyst and took on new responsibilities. At the same time, I underwent training as a Scrum Master and Project Manager, which allowed me to transition into project management.

How I Entered the IT Profession

My path in IT began during my university years when I studied programming. I graduated from the National University of Uzbekistan with a degree in "Applied Mathematics and Computer Science." I completed several internships as a programmer in different companies and started working immediately after university as a QA Automation Engineer.

On Stereotypes

Many people initially do not take a female leader seriously. Some believe that the "weaker" sex is incapable of handling serious issues. There were times when people underestimated my knowledge and experience. There were also those who expressed doubts about my ability to handle technical tasks. But I always proved my competence through my work results.

I believe the situation is gradually improving, and now professionalism is valued regardless of gender. When I joined Beeline Uzbekistan, I immediately noticed that there were far fewer women in the teams than men, but they were no less skilled. I see how my female colleagues successfully handle complex tasks. This shows that it is important to create conditions where talent and professionalism are valued above gender differences.

Barriers for Women in IT

I have not faced obvious obstacles or difficulties, but I have seen how other women overcome these challenges. Stereotypes about women's abilities in technical fields can create biases during hiring and career advancement. Additionally, women may find it difficult to balance their careers and family life.

Success in a career is determined not by gender, but by professional qualities and the desire for self-improvement. Everyone faces their own unique challenges, and overcoming them depends on personal effort and competencies. The main thing is to show and prove that you can do well what you do, and strive for constant improvement.

Recommendations for Those Just Starting Their Journey

For professional growth, it is important to be open to new knowledge and not be afraid to ask questions of any kind. You need to cast aside all fears and stereotypes. The most important thing is to remember that continuous learning is considered a key factor for success.

Choosing a direction in IT is similar to choosing a profession in any other field. It is important to understand what interests you and what you are good at. If you enjoy creating beautiful and user-friendly interfaces, look into UX/UI design, where you will figure out how users interact with digital products. If you are fascinated by analytics and want to understand why people behave in certain ways, then data analytics is your calling, where you will work with large volumes of information and draw conclusions based on it. And if you want to be at the center of events and manage projects, then project manager is an excellent role where you will coordinate team work and ensure the successful completion of projects.

But that is far from everything! There are many other interesting directions in IT: from programming and testing to cybersecurity. The main thing is to find what brings you pleasure. Currently, everything related to artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data is in trend, and this will undoubtedly be in demand in the coming years. However, do not forget about more traditional directions that will always remain relevant.

Gulnaz Kazhenbaeva, city – Almaty, iOS Developer at Kolesa Group

About Me

I am from Atyrau and spent all my childhood on the banks of the Ural River. In school, I wanted to become a journalist, wrote poetry, and loved performing, but at the advice of teachers, I chose a different path. In 2013, I entered KBTU, majoring in "Information Systems," and moved to Almaty. Today, I am an iOS developer at Kolesa Group, in the Krisha.kz team. I participate in discussions and the development of new features, fix bugs in existing solutions, improve code, and enhance the user experience. I am that very humanities student who became a tech specialist.

How I Entered the IT Field

I entered iOS development in my third year of university, and that's when I created my first project. It helped me find my first job because I had a tangible result in the form of a finished application. I started working in my fourth year: gradually gaining experience in outsourcing and the banking sector. I compensated for my lack of experience with a huge desire to learn and develop.

I realized that I was interested in solving tasks and understanding the underlying logic of the iOS platform. Thanks to a solid foundation in OOP, it was easier for me to understand the main principles of task design. This allowed me to focus specifically on the specifics of the iOS platform.

I am inspired by the vision of visual implementation and understanding where we want to arrive in the final version of the application. I work in a product team and enjoy seeing the visible results of my work.

On Stereotypes

My difficulties were related to my own stereotypes about what an ideal girl should be. In the early stages of my career, I tried to combine work and household responsibilities. I managed, but by the end of the day, I felt exhausted. Over time, I understood that it is important to follow my desires, not just fulfill obligations. I formulated my vision of family, based on "I want" rather than "I have to." I believe that the most important thing for a girl is to be happy.

Barriers for Women in IT

Personally, I have not encountered barriers. I like that there are more and more girls and women in IT. At university, I had many excellent female instructors for subjects like OOP, CISCO, and mathematics. Many women work in our company, including in leadership positions: team leads, managers, and top executives.

Kolesa Group has a strong culture of internal growth: both horizontal and vertical. The question of gender and generations has never been important to us. Every person is, first and foremost, a professional. The main criterion is that a person must fit the company's culture and values.

Recommendations for Those Just Starting Their Journey

1. Do not go into IT just because everyone else is going there. Go into IT if you want to do it yourself. I love my profession because I enjoy solving problems, coming up with solutions, and seeing how our applications help and improve the lives of millions of users.

2. Do not trade your life for money. This will never bring high income. Therefore, you need to decide first and go work somewhere where you truly enjoy it.

3. Base your choices on your preferences. For example, if you enjoy designing complex systems and understanding the relationships between microservices, choose backend. If you prefer the visual side, try frontend and mobile development. If you like analyzing data and are comfortable with SQL, go into data analytics. To help beginners start their journey in IT, we have outlined the necessary hard skills in our recommendations.

4. Discipline is more important than motivation and inspiration. Create a development plan, try interning, work on personal projects. Do not be afraid of mistakes – one bug will not make you a bad developer. Learn from them. Do not forget to thank yourself for your hard work and enjoy what you are doing.