In honor of Worldwide Girls in Engineering Day, we wish to spotlight among the spectacular girls engineers who’re continuously breaking obstacles and rewriting technological innovation right here at WP Engine.
Though the sphere of engineering is altering, the obstacles to entry and general remedy of ladies up to now have created main obstacles, resulting in an underrepresentation of ladies within the discipline.
As we discover extra methods to carry girls into engineering, we sat down with two of our personal engineers at WP Engine, Teresa Gobble and Ciprianna Engel, to debate the state of ladies in engineering in addition to their very own profession journeys.
Learn on to be taught extra about Worldwide Girls in Engineering Day and the way these two crew members have navigated and overcome challenges to realize fulfilling careers in engineering!
What’s Worldwide Girls in Engineering Day?
Going down yearly on June 23, Worldwide Girls in Engineering Day celebrates the work of ladies engineers and calls on the following era of ladies to make use of their skills to form the world. First celebrated in 2014 by the Girls’s Engineering Society, the date turned internationally acknowledged simply three years later in 2017.
This yr, as we have fun the eleventh annual Worldwide Girls in Engineering Day, it’s essential to keep in mind that regardless of the progress made, there may be loads of work to do to realize fairness in engineering. As of this yr, girls and non-binary folks make up solely about 16–21% of the engineering workforce.
As we discover methods to carry extra girls into technical and engineering fields, let’s hear from the experiences of two girls who’re at the moment thriving within the discipline proper right here at WP Engine!
Teresa Gobble
Teresa is at the moment a Software program Engineer at
WP Engine in Austin, Texas. She didn’t begin out as an engineer however was pursuing a PhD in psychology.
“I used to be pursuing a PhD in psychology. For my function, I did a number of quantitative-related analysis and that requires a number of statistical evaluation,” Gobble stated.
The analysis facet of her schooling led to an curiosity in engineering. As she progressed in her profession, she turned extra skilled in coding languages like R, SPS, and RStudio. She discovered she loved coding due to its difficult nature, however continued the psychology route till the pandemic.
The additional time at house allowed Gobble to discover extra applications, which ultimately led her to a boot camp referred to as Hack Reactor. Over the course of three months, she underwent an immersive expertise that fostered a difficult, strenuous setting. By way of the talents she acquired throughout her boot camp, Teresa was in a position to take part in impactful initiatives.
Considered one of her most impactful skilled initiatives occurred early in her profession. She had the chance to work on a three-person crew for a Chicago neighborhood watch mission. The Chicago Police Division has an Open API with info regarding crimes. By way of this mission, Teresa and the remainder of her crew constructed out the interface so various kinds of crime might be visualized and sorted.
“It was impactful, partially, as a result of it offered me with the expertise of doing one thing important and offered an actual software that somebody might use that will guarantee they perceive what security challenges the neighborhood has,” she stated.
Gobble’s distinctive background has additionally revealed some challenges feminine engineers face within the discipline.
“My prior profession was primarily girls. I labored in counseling psychology. I used to be a clinician at a well being clinic and noticed sufferers. I used to be additionally doing analysis at a college, and it was a majority of ladies in these positions,” Gobble stated.
“It’s very totally different in engineering. That form of gender ratio is flipped on this career. It takes just a little longer to really feel like you may have a peerage. It takes longer to search out your house.”
She stated seeing girls in management positions additionally influences her and permits her to check herself in a kind of positions.
“It’s additionally good to have folks you can see your self in amongst increased rating engineering positions, engineering managers, and people who find themselves main neighborhood conversations. It’s good to have the ability to envision myself in these roles and it’s simpler to do after I see girls doing it.”
Reflecting on her profession, Gobble advises younger girls who’re contemplating a profession in engineering to ignore imposter syndrome and simply get began
“Begin earlier than you assume you’re prepared, go for it, as a result of you’ll by no means really feel such as you’re totally prepared. There’s a ton of imposter syndrome that goes with getting into any new discipline, a lot much less one the place you don’t see your self represented,” she stated.
Though she doesn’t have a conventional engineering schooling, she has made a big impact on the WP Engine neighborhood and the net basically. Her tenacious, real angle has fostered a constructive setting for engineering groups, and WP Engine is fortunate to name her a part of the crew.
Ciprianna Engel
Ciprianna Engel is a Senior Software program Engineer for WP Engine and began her engineering profession with a B.A in Worldwide/World Research and a Grasp’s Diploma in Worldwide Relations and Affairs/Analysis Design and Evaluation.
Engel was launched to programming languages by way of her graduate college initiatives.
Though she had a job after commencement, she determined to pivot and be taught programming by way of a coding boot camp.
Initially, she discovered it tough to acclimate to a distinct mind-set and studying. The boot camp compelled her exterior her consolation zone, however she ultimately discovered her manner.
“It felt like I used to be working actually laborious to know it till I turned extra snug within the house. I feel it simply took a number of time and persistence and seeing various things to get to that stage the place I used to be like, ‘okay, I can do that, and it’s fantastic,’” stated Engel.
Equally to Gobble, Engel’s boot camp expertise was intense and immersive however gave her the talents and experiences she wanted to flourish as an engineer.
Considered one of her favourite engineering experiences in her profession got here by way of the boot camp. Nearing the tip of her expertise, she was assigned a crew to construct web sites for nonprofits that have been going for use in actual life.
“We labored on this large mission and we spent two weeks on it, and it was simply actually cool to see all of it come collectively figuring out that precise those that have been going to make use of it—that it might go into manufacturing and be truly on the internet,” Engel stated.
“It’s only a actually satisfying factor to see a mission by way of to completion after placing in all of the work for it. You actually really feel that payoff.” Her expertise with this mission helped solidify her curiosity in engineering. The power to create helpful initiatives for on a regular basis life elevated her curiosity within the discipline.
Earlier in Engel’s profession, she confronted adversity from gender stereotypes in engineering. Being the one girl engineer on a crew, she would typically be positioned answerable for the frontend and design features of the mission. Whereas she loved this a part of engineering, she additionally wished to be part of the backend programming.
“I really like the frontend, and I really like making issues look fairly, however I didn’t like being advised that I’ve to make issues fairly as a result of I’m the lady on the crew. I feel that was a problem, and now, issues really feel far much less gendered,” she stated.
When wanting towards the way forward for girls in engineering, she urges younger girls who’re contemplating the sphere to stay tenacious of their profession and neglect doubts about their capabilities.
“Don’t hand over on your self and hold persistent. It’s very easy to doubt your self and to assume you’ll be able to’t do it. Each engineer ever goes by way of that, particularly after they’re encountering one thing that they’ve by no means seen earlier than. Simply hold making an attempt and know you are able to do it. You simply have to observe, and it’ll take time, however it’ll occur.” Engel stated.
Engel is now a pacesetter in our engineering house and has been part of a number of totally different initiatives together with a unicorn design system for WP Engine, a broadly used design system, throughout which she collaborated with a number of different groups to carry the mission to fruition.
Glad Worldwide Girls in Engineering Day!
Each Teresa Gobble and Ciprianna Engel are integral components of the WP Engine crew, bringing important abilities to the groups and initiatives on which they work.
Their journeys in engineering are impactful and WP Engine is proud to have them on our groups—Glad Girls in Engineering day, we recognize all you do!
Head to the Worldwide Girls in Engineering Day web site to be taught extra in regards to the historical past behind the day. When you’re in search of a satisfying function in engineering, try our careers web page to discover open roles!
