Industry connections for personal and professional growth
1. Industry connections for personal
and professional growth
Nejiba Bouzaiane Khalfallah
Association Tunisienne des Femmes Ingénieures
TFIAP 2016- IEEE
2. Women in industry (tech) ecosystem
Men
outnumbered
women 4 to 1
in tech sectors
when women go to
venture capitalists
seeking financing for
their new startups, they
are generally treated
differently from men
Even if companies
started by women
achieve 35% higher
return on investment
Parents often
discourage their
daughters from tech
studying.
53% of women left tech-
intensive professions for
other work, compared to
31% of the men
In the United Kingdom:
• 73% of both men and women
believe the industry to be sexist;
• 52% say women are paid less than
men for the same job;
• Structural and cultural sexism is still
widespread.
Tradition makes
marriage &
family priority vs
women career.
It’ very hard to reach
leadership position.
3. Build your personal development plan
1
year
5
years
10
years
15
years
where you
want to be
What types of skills will you need
knowledge will you need to acquire
talents will you need to develop
look at the
gaps in your
personal
development
plan
4. How to fill these gaps ?
fill the
gaps
Networ
king
Training
Mentorship
& revers
mentorship
Profes-
sional
associa-
tion
5. (Strong) Networking
Exploring new opportunities
outside of your organization, for
your position.
Be able to stay
aware of the
information that
affects you.
The job offers
may find you,
without your
having to seek
them out!
6. Training
Being seen by others
at your company as a
lifelong learner
Be constantly seeking
out training
opportunities
Pursue formal
training, either in a
classroom or online
Learn about things
that interest you
from via the
Internet
7. Mentorship & Reverse-Mentorship
Can be from any industry,
in any job function, and at
any point in your career If doesn’t exist in your
company, You may find a
potential mentor through
networking
Could be via Email
or social networks
Don’t forget to
become a mentor,
it will develop your
network
