Lessons I Learned Being a Woman in Technology

It’s hard being a minority. But it’s even harder if we don’t participate at all

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Being a minority anywhere is hard. There’s a persistent pushback of the tide. You are constantly pushing to even out the odds. For the same amount of effort, at a certain point, you come to expect a certain level of inequality. After years, you say to yourself, this is how it is. Looking back at my time as a female technologist on Wall Street, I always coped with my circumstances. Often, I traded my boundaries to cope with the circumstances simply because I had to.

As a minority woman in technology, the odds were always against me. But I’m an eternally optimistic person. I learned very early on that there’s always a way out of situations. There’s even a possibility in the impossible. As a minority who was grateful for the opportunities, I worked hard.

I look back on my experiences (both good and bad) with hope. Even now, for me, at the end of forgiveness, I’m still pushing against the tide. This time, it’s already easier than the last time. This time, I know what to do.