Happy International Women’s Day from our inspiring women to yours. In the last few months, the dynamic of our team has shifted and now it is official that yes, we have more women than men working at Sidebench.
CEO Kevin Yamazaki reflected on this development by saying “I am very proud of our diversity and know that our blend of talent is an unfiltered result of building towards our mission, growing the best culture, and finding the best talent. A result of merit.”
In the tech industry, having a female majority is a rarity. So, as we celebrate today’s holiday, we asked our team to reflect on the unique perspective that gender diversity, and diversity in general, brings to our office and to the future of technology and innovation as whole.
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Cassandra Gibson, UX Designer
I personally believe that innovation and design are strongest when the individuals driving the process are diverse in many ways — a diversity of gender expressions, diverse racial and ethnic identities, socioeconomic diversity, and even a diversity of educational backgrounds. When I consider that technology has largely been a space for a very specific subset of humanity for a very long time (and unfortunately continues to be so), I can only imagine how that has limited technological advancement and reach. Ideas and products that include not only more people but also more different people have the potential to impact a broader scope of society.
It is crucial that technology embrace the full spectrum of gender not only to design inclusively but also to continue to break down what it means to design something “for men” or “for women.” As a woman in tech, my role is not to make sure things are designed for women, but rather to learn about other perspectives on the same technologies and include those personas in the design. I have the perspective of a straight, cisgender, Latinx woman, but part of my job as a user experience expert is to incorporate all identities, especially those outside my own perspective.
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Kathy Hoang, UI Designer
Whether you’re a woman, child, elder, minority, or anything in between, everyone has a different way of living and a different perspective on how things should work. Technology can definitely benefit from these different perspectives and being a woman adds to that benefit.
Being a woman in technology is empowering because of the lack of representation in the industry, but obviously we aren’t the only minorities. By including different perspectives we can provide people with solutions to their everyday problems and help them to achieve much more in life. We can encourage women and other minorities to get more involved in the design and tech industry by helping them realize that they don’t have to conform and deal with what’s currently presented to them. We should encourage them to always question why it has to be this way and give them opportunities to voice out their ideas, thoughts, and solutions to make an impact.
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RJ Stidd, Director of Product Delivery
We can’t invent the future this world deserves without diversity. Women bring a diverse mindset to the way we solve today’s problems. Too often, the issues our world faces could have been prevented if we empowered everyone to harness a diverse collective genius. Everyone has a different creative and innovative essence. We all interpret problems and define solutions differently and it is only through the balance of these differences that we come to the best results.
Our industry is being called upon to protect the future. Now more than ever, women need to be heard to ensure we create and define the highest level of technoethics in our products. Today is about reminding the world that humanity is selling itself short if women aren’t a part of the solution.
I am beyond grateful for the incredible women and men I work with at Sidebench. Our diversity is what enables us to shape, create and challenge the intelligent technologies the future depends on.
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Keenan Cronyn, People Operations
I think 2 of the best things that we all gain from a high level of diversity in the office is a heightened sense of balance and a healthy dose of creative friction. The unique mix of backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences that differ between gender, race, age, etc. all help us think about the view from someone else’s shoes more easily than if everyone was the same. This helps us stay balanced when considering that there might be a greater truth than our own, and it also allows us to challenge others to draw out their unique perspective. Without these innate differences, we’d have a lot less to offer as a whole.
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Lindsay Garet, Product Manager
The world of technology has not always been a place that women have sought out. From everything we were told as little girls, tech has at times seemed like a boys club, which can seem intimidating, unfriendly, and unwelcoming to us. But women have so much to offer in every aspect of design and development, innovation and strategy. And not because we are women. But because when given an opportunity and a challenge, we will rise to meet it. We will be creative in our approaches. We will be thoughtful and empathetic. And we will offer a diverse perspective and challenge the status quo.
We have made room for ourselves in the technology space, but only by encouraging other young women to join our ranks will we, as an industry, be able to continue to grow and innovate into the future. The goal is that one day soon, we will not need to say “I am a woman in technology”. We can just be women and work in the technology industry and feel confident in our position and what we have to offer.
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Katherine Van Winkle, UX Designer
One of the first things I noticed when coming to Sidebench was that we had majority women design and product teams. This really stood out to me because it is so rare to find in a male-dominated industry.
Having a balanced and diverse team not only promotes respect and understanding, but it also leads to better products. Empathy is one of the most important aspects of user centered design. The more unique perspectives and backgrounds you can bring to the table, the higher the likelihood that you will be able to develop an understanding of your users and their needs.
We all use technology everyday and it only makes sense that women (as half of the population) should have an equal say in how it is designed and built. More women in tech will not only be beneficial to women, it will be beneficial to everyone.
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Katie Louise Flynn, BD & Marketing Apprentice
The number of female role models in the industry is growing, and I can’t wait to experience the effect it has on the next decade of technological advances. Previously typical female attributes such as being “too caring” were labeled as the reason women do not succeed in male dominated sectors and roles, however as the importance of empathy for the user is highlighted when designing and developing technology, women’s natural tendencies are becoming a positive and not a limitation to our career goals. I think this mindset change is really exciting, and we will see technology start to feel more human and built to be more inclusive for everyone, as a result of the influence of creative and caring women.
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Katyana Nguyen, Digital Health Apprentice
We exist in a time where the world demands innovation and change. These principles dominate the tech industry, and I believe that being a woman in this field is a challenge that aligns with the very objective of it: to embrace challenges and produce something better because of them. I used to believe that the best way to succeed was to follow what has succeeded, to mimic who has proven strong and successful. But as I am inspired by the sources of innovation around me and my interest in the tech industry grows, so does my confidence as a woman in bringing her own original thoughts into the workplace.
We create better when more creators are heard, and when we are open to mixing together a wide variety of perspectives. This means that every creator has a duty to bring their whole, genuine self to their work, and therefore be encouraged to embrace all of the ways they are different from one another. I am extremely proud to work in an environment that welcomes a diverse range of leadership styles and ideas, and am excited to push the boundaries of innovation alongside my male and female colleagues together as a united front!
