Ctdit23 1125 125 website image.jpg

Breaking the mould at Bloomberg: An interview with software engineer, Lisanne de Groot

Lisanne de Groot

Image:

Lisanne de Groot

Tech employers should support and fund employee communities for under represented groups, and help those who dominate the sector to be strong allies – for the benefit of all.

Lisanne de Groot began university as a chemistry major, having decided during high school that computer science wasn't for her. However, computer science was required during her degree, and de Groot realised that her younger self had not appreciated all the subject had to offer.

"I had successfully avoided computer science in high school, as I thought it was too difficult and math oriented. Imagine my disappointment discovering that taking a class in computer science was a graduation requirement at university. But I quickly became fascinated by it, which led to me pursuing a minor in computer science."

Computer science stands out from other STEM fields when it comes to the proportion of women taking courses in it. Research from the US published in 2021 showed a steady increase in the proportions of women taking physical sciences and medical degrees (although it's interesting to note that these proportions plateaued around the millennium mark and have stayed broadly the same since. However, the proportion of women majoring in computer science peaked in 1984, (yes you did read that correctly) at around 37% and has been declining ever since. In the UK, the proportion of female computer science graduates is now around 16%.

What attracted de Groot to a subject, that for various complex reasons, can't seem to sell itself to women?

"The computer science class I took in university helped me fall in love with the world of technology. For me, the problem-solving element of software engineering is fascinating. It's a bit like a logic puzzle but also involves collaborating with different teams and functions. This has always been a key focus for what I wanted when I joined the workforce."

In 2020, de Groot joined a software engineering team at Bloomberg, working on buy-side decision support products for portfolio managers.

"I work with TypeScript and Python," she explains, "to build scalable, reusable microservices as part of a position analysis application. This has also involved diving into new technologies and leading cross-team collaborations."

Building employee communities

The software engineering workplace is not always the most welcoming environment for young women. Until the proportion of women in the US, Europe and the UK studying the subject increases to levels seen in countries like India, where there is gender parity in the subject, women developers will be in a minority at work, no matter how hard employers try to recruit them. The rate of attrition for women working in areas such as software development is significantly higher than that of men. How does de Groot think that workplaces can nurture and support the female talent in their ranks?

"From my experience, the technology and engineering sectors are becoming more willing to value the experiences of women in tech, but we still have a long way to go. Companies and academic institutions can work with women and allies to create women's community groups, providing spaces for women to meet, and support each other in an industry that comprises predominantly men.

"These communities are getting more support and funding from the wider business, which shows that organisations in the tech and engineering sector care and want to do better. That's certainly a positive message for me to see and be part of every day. I genuinely believe they can help create a nurturing culture that attracts and retains female talent."

Leadership

Tech isn't as meritocratic as you think

And relying on graduates to fill vacancies isn’t working

Long reads: Why do so many women experience imposter syndrome?
/feature/4331535/long-reads-women-experience-imposter-syndrome

Leadership

Long reads: Why do so many women experience imposter syndrome?

And is it always a bad thing?

Tech She Can launches Manifesto for Generational Change
/news/4322678/tech-launches-manifesto-generational-change

Skills

Tech She Can launches Manifesto for Generational Change

Launch showcased an impressive community of sponsors, educators and policy makers

Ctdit23 1125 125 website image.jpg

Breaking the mould at Bloomberg: An interview with software engineer, Lisanne de Groot

Tech employers should support and fund employee communities for under represented groups, and help those who dominate the sector to be strong allies – for the benefit of all.

Image

Description

Employee communities are vital for support

For de Groot, employee communities are a vitally important source of support for employees who don't always find people like themselves in their original team.

"I play a key role in diversity and inclusion spaces at Bloomberg," she explains. " As co-lead of the LGBTQ+ network, I've supported events such as trans allyship training sessions, speed networking, mentorship programs, and volunteering opportunities. I engage with our business departments to ensure that allies have opportunities to learn and grow and LGBTQ+ employees are welcomed.

Break the mould!

When it comes to making tech leadership more diverse, de Groot identifies the dilemma which invariably surfaces in any discussion about diversity of leadership. That is, do you encourage people to change to fit the existing mould - or try to break the mould?

"Too often we answer this question by looking at how we can fix women. What we need to be doing is challenging men about what they can change about their behaviours to make the industry more welcoming and inclusive for others. This includes rewarding women in leadership for taking the time to participate in panels and talk at conferences, where they serve as visible role models."

This is really crucial point. The lack of women role models in technology is continually presented as one of the reasons that there aren't more women in tech. It's a frustratingly circular argument, and it also puts pressure on women who are building tech careers to go out and fly the flag for their employer. This is something that their male colleagues just don't have to worry about. Serving as a visible role model, often putting in groundwork in schools and colleges to help build a pipeline of future talent is the kind of work that should be recognised as a leadership quality - and remunerated accordingly.

De Groot continues:

"We often focus on teaching women how to evolve themselves to succeed in tech, but tangible change starts with allies looking at themselves and recognising the ways in which they can grow and better support the women in their industry.

"For example, stop evaluating women based on male standards. How loud somebody is in a room or how much of the conversation they dominate doesn't relate to how technical they are. Simply asking for others' opinions instead of taking the opinion of the loudest man in the conversation can go a long way.

"Allies in leadership roles also need to take this personally. It's not enough anymore to have good intentions. Those in leadership need to be actively unlearning their biases. They should also be actively reviewing their performance evaluation metrics to eliminate implicit biases from them."