At the WomenTech Network, we’re fortunate to have a wonderful, global community of ambassadors who help us spread the word about our work and who helped us make the WomenTech Global Conference 2020 a success and continue helping us on or mission to unite women in tech. We would like you to meet these wonderful people as well; therefore, we’re going to be introducing you to some of our most active members.

Today, get to know Sharon Elaine D’Souza:

Not many of you may know but Elaine means the shining one. Sharon Elaine D’Souza loves to read articles on literature, psychology, science, zodiac signs. She truly believes that one day she will make all her dreams of becoming a great bioinformatician will come true.

She is a Pakistani citizen and by the end of this year, she will be graduating as a biotechnologist from Dow University of Health Sciences. 

During the pandemic in order to avoid feeling shackled at home, she started attending many virtual events and have used this time to expand her knowledge. That's how she stumbled upon the WomenTech Global Conference 2020:

I love every opportunity this event has given me to express and present myself. In the future, I want to be a great scientist because I want to be constantly challenged in the workplace. I want to use my career as an avenue to learn from others and then to pass on that knowledge so that more can be enlightened.

Attending this event made me realize that there are no challenges in the tech industry since these highly capable speakers know what the problems are and they are working towards a solution by raising awareness among others. So, the good news is when your problem is identified you are not in the dark anymore.

In Sharon’s Own Words:

• What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in the tech industry? What do you wish you had known?

The one advice that I would give is learn to be outspoken. If you want something you go and get it for yourself. Don’t sit and just rely on others, you be the boss of yourself and don’t let others stereotype you.

I wish I had known that communication and marketing skills complement the knowledge of a good scientist. It is not enough to have knowledge.

• Why do you think so few women go into tech and stay in tech?

Women have been taught to always prioritize family life and the need of motherhood to complete ourselves. A career-oriented woman is mostly considered selfish or lazy. So, to try to balance family life and their careers women mostly choose to sacrifice their dreams to support their children. They find solace when they live their dreams through their children.

Besides that, the picture in our minds of people in tech is usually associated with males, rarely are women of tech acknowledged so no wonder we feel out of place even when we dream to establish ourselves in this community. 

Moreover, tech is associated with pushing boundaries in order to be artistic, women on the other hand are encouraged to stay within boundaries and think of the consequences before they act. So, this mindset will diffuse into their workplace as the famous saying goes "well-behaved women seldom make history."

• What is the role of educators and parents?

It is the job of the parents to encourage their children to explore new horizons. Tech is an interconnected web of different realms which include science, management etc. It is very complex and truly wonderful.

If you limit yourself to specializing in only a single discipline then you lose perspective of all other things. Learn to view things from a different perspective is what should be taught instead of the repetitive warnings of failing exams. But what can be done since grades are ultimately what defines us in the eyes of our educators.

• According to you what is the role of a Global Ambassador? Describe your experience.

As the name suggests the name itself means that we are representatives of the population around the globe; it is our duty to bridge the gap between citizens of other countries. It is our duty to raise awareness among others of prospective opportunities for them to learn and to develop themselves personally.