Silicon In Focus Podcast: International Women’s Day

This International Day of Women and Girls in Science, our industry must create more initiatives to show girls and women how fun and rewarding a career in STEM can be.

I’d like to advise girls and women fascinated with STEM subjects and looking to get into the science and technology industry to be persistent. Be prepared to take risks and push outside your comfort zone. Apply, apply, and apply – try volunteering and internships to get an idea of different roles and volunteering for projects to push your skills. Most of all, take advice from the many women in the industry, as a huge network can be accessed on LinkedIn and other social media. The skills you might be missing are nothing compared with the wealth of talent you already have – there isn’t such a thing as a perfect candidate; no one ticks every box. And don’t be afraid to try new things until you find your niche.

Role models and mentors –  be ready to give support to those starting out – let’s keep the conversation going. We need to see girls and women in a broad spectrum of roles in the science and technology sector – from sales and marketing, to operations, cybersecurity and software development, and client management – there’s so much more to tech than coding.

Technology organisations – it matters that we enable access and support. This means more engagement with girls from secondary age to provide insight and exposure to the opportunities a STEM career can offer and offering flexible working solutions to design roles around lifestyles.

Our industry is realising the vast wealth of talent that women can offer, for organisations and society as a whole. Let’s turn talk into action and make our problem-solving diverse, make discriminatory hiring a thing of the past and offer more young women access to rewarding careers in science and technology.

Sarah Friswell, CEO, Red Ant.

After beginning her career in account management, Sarah followed the client relationship ladder all the way to the emerging digital landscape in Dubai, where she led major projects for leading global brands, including IBM and Volvo.

On her return to the UK, Sarah joined Red Ant . She applied her extensive experience of networked and independent tech-based businesses to drive the company forward in pioneering work with high-profile brands such as Charlotte Tilbury, Furniture Village and Chalhoub Group. As Red Ant’s CEO, she is responsible for driving and guiding the business, from ensuring the company is run in a sustainable and ethical way to heading up talent selection and overseeing project progress and delivery to clients.

She is particularly passionate about diversity, equality and encouraging the progression of women in what can be a tough industry and has been instrumental in ensuring positive measures are part of Red Ant’s policies.