A presentation I made for a talk about how I feel about being a woman in tech, my passions, and my stepping stones to my career now as a software engineer.

1. For and Against Women
in Computer Science
Monique R. Dingding
Software Engineer at Sidekick Digital
_________________________________________
_________________________________________

2. What I do:
● Software Engineer at Sidekick Digital
○ MEAN (MongoDB, Express, Angular, NodeJS) Stack
Developer
○ Currently developing a customized CRM for
Housing Guarantor Service in UK
● Core Member in Davao Music Nation
○ Organizing events that showcase the local artists
from Davao’s music scene

3. How I got into tech:
● “Kinda knew” computers in High School
● Took up BS Computer Science in University
of the Philippines Mindanao
● Your typical college student :-)
● I started off as PHP full stack developer
then proceeded to a full time career in the
academe.
● Academe made me realize how much I
loved programming.

4. Computer Science
Academe Development Research
Creating mobile,
desktop and web
applications
Internet-of-Things,
Robotics, Machine
Learning, Artificial
Intelligence
Educating students
about fundamental and
advanced theories
governing Computer
Science
Creating/implementing
new technologies,
process
Data Science, Data
Mining

5. Computer Science
classes are intimidating.
What happens in a CS college classroom can greatly influence
women’s decision to enter or stay out of the programming field.

6. There is a general lack of
awareness of potential
careers in the tech field.
What even is Computer Science? Is it the same as Information
Technology? What is Computer Engineering? What is a DevOps?

7. The society’s stereotypical
portrayal of a programmer is
a skinny, nerdy hacker.
That thing where geeks and scientists are always fragile without a
shred of muscle, except when they're morbidly obese and/or
neckbearded.

8. Many women opt out of CS
because of the lack of
confidence in their abilities.
Research shows that when a male and a female student enter a
computer science course at the same level, the male thinks he's more
skilled than he is, and the female thinks she's less skilled than she is.

9. There is a lack of women
role models in Computer
Science.
Female students lack relatable role models for inspiration, given that
many leaders in the field are men.

10. I am a woman in tech,
and I love it.
I have met so many passionate, hardworking and intelligent people
(who would become my mentors, mentees and friends) that I would not
have met had I not been a Computer Science major.

11. Pre-college experience in
computers is not required.
Students’ motivation to pursue Computer Science can be acquired by
getting the students continually engaged, curious and creative.

13. I get to embrace my
differences.
I am legitimately proud to tell people that I work as a software
engineer, even if most of the time I have to explain what that means.

15. I get to meet passionate,
intelligent and inspiring
people.
People in this industry are so damn smart every word that they speak
is like watching an episode of Silicon Valley. Intellectual discussions,
all day, everyday.

17. I get to learn new
technologies everyday.
There’s so much to learn in so little time. And yes, the curriculum
doesn’t necessarily teach skills that translate directly to industry, but
it does teach you how to think.

18. I get to be a mentor.
I get flattered whenever my new friends and former students come to
me for opinions, going out for coffee or lunch, talking about tech and
helping others how to code, when I still see myself as a mentee.

19. Philippines needs more
women engineers.
The highest paid jobs in the world are also the most brain-heavy jobs.
It is going to be a difficult road, but it is going to be worth it.
Are you up for the challenge?

20. Nothing worth having in
this world comes easy.
dev.to/gloriamaris
github.com/gloriamaris
monique.dingding@gmail.com