An acknowledgement to our fellow women in STEAM careers

Maryam Mirzakhani was a professor of mathematics at Stanford University and an Iranian researcher in geometry and dynamical systems.

The aim of this celebration is to recognise the achievements of women mathematicians and to inspire women and girls to pursue this science. The STEAM Alliance for Female Talent, an initiative of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, pursues the same goal: to promote girls’ and women’s interest in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) careers.

STEAM Women at MindDen

Every day, but especially today, we want to recognise the work of those who for MindDen are great references and influencers in the field of technology, our STEAM professionals. Some of them are (in alphabetical order):

In order for you to get to know them a little better, they have given us answers to the following questions:

• Why did they decide to dedicate themselves to the world of technology/programming?
• How do you feel in your day-to-day life at MindDen (in a male-dominated field)?
• What is your role within the team?

Angela, SCADA control systems developer. “My job is to design, develop and maintain computer systems that enable the monitoring and control of processes”. 

“In high school, I chose the science and technology branch because it was the field of study that made me feel more confident and secure. Technology gives you the possibility to approach solutions to problems from a logical and non-theoretical point of view. Programming is the perfect tool to transform those solutions into reality.”

“On a day-to-day basis, I feel very comfortable and valued for my skills and knowledge. The company promotes diversity and inclusion, making the work environment very positive.”

Elena, who is in charge of the manual, automated and performance quality of an application, participates daily with the team to detect any necessary improvements in the system.

 “During my mathematics degree, I had an elective subject on programming in C/C++ and this introduction to the world of programming opened up an exciting world for me, although I decided to learn more current technologies”.

 “I am happy to work for a company that values its employees based on their skills and experiences, and not based on their gender, age or any other trait irrelevant to the performance of this job.”

Eva, UX consultant in an application and product management project for the company. “I try to optimise the user’s interaction with the website as much as possible and make sure that every time they use it, they get a good feeling.

 “I started in the world of programming because I was always good at mathematics. I discovered that programming, mathematics and web/app and videogame design went hand in hand and I jumped headfirst into the pool.”

 “Just today I was talking about it with another colleague: there is no distinction between one and one… we are a team and that’s it. From the first day, we trusted each other and, to this day, I don’t care if Leo is Leo or Lea.

Isis, Java and PHP programmer, developing TDD. “We were fighting with a legacy monolith as much as we were playing microservices with Hexagonal Architecture”.

“It was a fluke and it wasn’t in the plans. I was sent from unemployment to a programming workshop school and I liked it. From then on, I started to study it seriously, and I still do as of today.”

“I’m very happy, to be honest. I don’t feel that I’m less taken into account because I’m in the minority, I’m treated equally.”

Jeniffer, data analyst, programming and software support in software implementations.

“Ever since I was little, I have been fascinated by technology and everything involved with it. I feel part of something, a process, a creation. When we make a program, it activates our creativity, and when you solve a requirement and make things simpler and easier for people, with just a click of a button, it is very satisfying.”

“I feel super good and grateful to be part of this company, because here I was made part of a professional group.”

Laura, frontend and backend developer, developing and analysing different applications for multiple uses.

“Because of the great potential that this profession has, how with very few resources you can contribute so much value to society”.

“I feel more or less comfortable. There is still a long way to go in terms of women in this and many other professions, but we are making progress little by little as a society. I like to be part of that progress and I like to think that I am doing my own bit”.

Mariola, Business Intelligence: analyses and develops data extraction, loading, transformation, modelling and visualisation processes. “The most fun bit is getting the data to add up”.

“Since I was little, I enjoyed physics, understanding the “why” of things. That led me to engineering and technology: it’s the way to have fun, learning and understanding.”

“Even though I am the only girl in my team, my day-to-day life is fantastic: we are all the same, we do team building teams where we mix and there is no difference in age, gender… or accent! I hope that many girls who have these concerns will be encouraged to join this great team”.

Natalia, QA in the product development quality department. “I test what my colleagues develop and, once I’ve validated that everything works correctly, I program automatic tests.

“I have a brother who is into programming. My vocation came because of what I had and saw at home”.

“In my case there has never been any problem because of it. My day to day with MindDen colleagues is something very normal, we talk about everything from sports to reality TV, haha.”

Thank you colleagues for your contribution and daily work in each of our projects.