'They didn't take me seriously because I'm a woman' - A story of ignorance in a male-dominated industry

Marie Myers, CFO of RPA firm UiPath tells how she was ignored by sections of the industry because of her gender, and how she was paid less than a man while performing the same role

Marie Myers, CFO of Robotic Process Automation firm UiPath, has expressed her outrage at an earlier phase of her career where she was ignored by several leading technology vendors because she is a woman.

Myers, in charge of a significant budget at the time, had invited tenders for a particular technology deployment from a list of vendors, and was subsequently ignored by most of them.

"To be honest with you, most of them simply didn't show up," Myers told Computing. "I think a lot of female buyers have the same experience. They thought I wasn't serious, because it's a very male-dominated environment."

One of the vendors however did take the request seriously, and proved itself to have a very diverse range of employees, which impressed Myers enough that they won what was a large project at the time.

She continued, describing the diversity problem she sees across the industry.

"I sat on a panel yesterday, and I think you could count the number of women there using the fingers of one hand, and it's very disappointing.

"Because if women don't have a seat at the table now, we're going to miss the next wave. If you don't have female role models, if you don't have enough women in senior roles, the next generation will suffer the same problems."

Myers argued that technology buyers should demand diversity in the teams they interact with and are supported by in their suppliers.

"We need to be more demanding, that's the word I would use. Just demand the same level of diversity that you see out there in the world.

"The problem is that we're in this fourth industrial revolution, and the other three that went before us were predominantly led by men, which has set the tone.

"So if women are not front and centre, if they don't even have a significant role, you've pretty much laid the groundwork for the next two to three decades, because things won't change. And I've got to tell you, there's a lot of work to do."

Myers explained that she doesn't want her daughters to have the same experience.

"I've got two daughters, and I really want my girls to think that they have an equal opportunity.

"They shouldn't have to think that when they enter the workforce, they will be paid less. When I sat down with my daughter the other day, she asked me: ‘Mum, is it true that woman are paid less?'

"I said, Yes. In fact I told them your mother was paid less. So let me tell you the stories about what I went through in my career to get here.

"I had to speak up and ask. I've stepped into jobs previously done by a man, and I was demoted a level lower, even though it was exactly the same job. That happened because I'm a woman, and no one wants to talk about this. So one of the things I'm going to do in this job is talk about these issues."

UiPath recently announced $568 million of funding, placing its latest valuation at around $7 billion, making it among the most valuable firms in its marketplace.

Computing believes in championing and promoting diversity in IT departments and beyond. The Women in IT Excellence Awards are open now, and are designed to promote the many female success stories in the industry.

The Women in Tech Festival is an event with networking, mentoring, presentations and workshops, all designed to help women in their careers, and help everyone understand the importance and benefits of a diverse workforce.