Today (Friday 25 September) the BBC is hosting a Women in Technology event at Broadcasting House in London. Ahead of the event, we asked a handful of female BBC employees a few questions about their experience of working in the technology sector: What attracted them to the work? How they came to work in technology? What they love most about it? And what advice would they give to young people now who want to work in tech? Here are their responses:
Julia Whitney,
Executive Creative Director, BBC Engineering and General Manager UX&D,BBC Digital
I’ve always liked making things, and I loved that with digital you could make things that responded to you. I did a Graphic Design masters degree in the early 90’s and one of my tutors hired me to practice interaction design at a TV production company that was starting to do educational interactive compact discs and websites.
I enjoy seeing how this industry keeps evolving and expanding. There’s simply no end to the opportunities.
My advice would be, just dig in and start making stuff.
Lucie Benjamin,
Senior Technical Project Manager, BBC Digital
When I started in web development it was really starting to change from static websites to dynamic websites and I found this a really exciting time and could see the potential for a long term career. Technology is always changing and the options available for jobs are always expanding.
When I left school I worked for a company offering technical support for service engineers out in the field. I was exposed to some basic programming and found I had a knack for it. My plan was always to go to university but due to my tech esperience, I changed my mind about which course and decided on a computer science degree. There were so few women on my course, around 10% at that time, that we were really encouraged to do well. When I finished my degree I started working for a company that was essentially a start-up where we really embraced agile practices before it became main stream.
Technology changes all the time – keeping abreast of latest developments means you are always learning and challenging yourself. My advice would be, focus on what inspires/interests you – technology is and can be used in so many walks of life, that’s what makes it so exciting.
Lucie McLean,
Head of Product, Children’s Digital
I’ve always been interested in technology and writing. I got my first computer when I was seven (a ZX81) and wanted to be a journalist from a young age. However after ten years in journalism I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t enabling me to fully explore my interest in the internet and how digital products got made. I wanted to get under the bonnet and get involved in making them.
I was a journalist at the BBC News website for several years and because of my domain knowledge of the website and how it was published, I was offered an attachment as a mobile product manager. Nine years later I’m now the Head of Product for Children's. The BBC’s product managers come from a wide range of backgrounds - including journalism, engineering and design - and that helps us bring a wide range of skills and knowledge to our product development.
I love being able to make things that people enjoy and use in their everyday lives. Whenever I see someone on a train or tram using an app that our teams developed, it always makes me smile. I also love how the rate of change in digital technology is always creating new opportunities for us to explore new kinds of content and experiences. It never stops changing and it never gets boring.
The key to a successful career in technology is being open to and excited by change. You never stop learning - and you need to be comfortable with that. Whether you love music, gaming or sport and are good at solving problems or talking to people, I’d also recommend looking for a role that helps you combine your passions with what you’re good at. That’ll help you find a job you'll thrive in on a project or product you’ll be able to make a valuable contribution to.
Rosie Campbell,
Technologist, R&D North Lab & North UX Research Group
I like solving puzzles, and there is no shortage of them in the tech industry. It seemed like a place where I could combine my technical skills with creative problem-solving in a very practical way, and contribute to creating the apps and services that I loved using.
During my BSc in Physics, I started learning web development, fell in love with coding and decided to do an MSc in Computer Science. I started looking for web development jobs at the BBC because I was a fan of BBC iPlayer. That’s where I stumbled on the advert for the Trainee Research Technologist scheme at BBC Research & Development, which seemed the perfect mix of technical problem solving and creative thinking. I was lucky enough to be accepted and the rest is history.
Some people lose themselves in art or music, I lose myself in code. A whole day can fly by and I won’t have noticed because I’m ‘in the zone’. I also appreciate the variety - I get to work on lots of completely different projects with all kinds of people. Something that I enjoy specifically about working in BBC R&D is that we are imagining and creating the technology of the future, which at times feels very sci-fi.
Tech moves so fast that it can sometimes feel overwhelming; there is always something new to learn. But remember you’re not alone - most of us (especially women) suffer from imposter syndrome. The tech industry can be very challenging, but that’s also what makes it fun and exciting. Something that has really helped me is following relevant, knowledgeable people on social media who I can learn from.
Sally Morales,
Senior Technical Project Manager - BBC News Visual Journalism
I started with technology back in 1987 with desktop publishing on an Apple Mac. I worked in print design for the next ten years, by which time the internet had appeared. I moved from constructing page layouts for print into coding web pages. I was doing intranet websites during the day and unpaid, private work during my own time to build up a portfolio of websites I had designed and built myself.
There are so many different and complex technologies that all need to work together and really smart people making that happen. I love the cleverness of it all and that it is constantly changing. And that it is all immensely creative. I love code and how it looks like nothing much but can produce the most amazing things when rendered in the browser.
My advice would be to find an aspect of tech that interests you and spend whatever time you need to learn how to do it well. If you are passionate about it, don't expect it to be a 9 to 5 interest. The best techies I know will have spent many a late night working at it.
- Keep up to date with highlights from the BBC Women in Technology event on twitter #bbcwit
- Visit iWonder's 'Why are there so few women in computing?' page
