Celebrating International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day has been celebrated since the early 1900’s. The occasion celebrates the the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. In fact, in certain countries like China, Russia, Vietnam and Bulgaria, International Women’s Day is a national holiday. 34SP.com asked a few staff members of the female persuasion to articulate their thoughts on the progress of women in the modern world. Below are those thoughts.

 

Kayleigh

“Working in a technical role never honestly struck me as a ‘man’s profession’, but I’m quite naive to gender stereotypes having grown up in a family of female gamers. I feel that my colleagues and I here at 34SP.com see each other as people, not men and women. I find it hard to believe that it has not been so long since women were refused roles because of their gender – I have met women who are builders, security workers and heavy machinery users, whilst knowing men who hair dress, cook and clean. At 34SP.com everyone seems to merge together really well based on their love of technology – gender is irrelevant to this. When International Women’s Day comes around I guess it is nice to sit and reflect on how lucky we are to live in the present day, living in a time when something like your gender can cost you your dream job sounds awful. A lot can happen in a few decades and I am glad to be part of a gender-blind society. Given my inability to sew, iron and my questionable cooking skills I am glad that I live in a time where I can comfortably work with men and women tech nerds. I’d be lost had I been born a century ago! I hope the world continues to shed these gender stereotypes and like-minded male and female colleagues can work together doing what they love.”

 

Nina

“I remember the very first time I walked into the 34SP.com office. I was applying for a role as a front line support technician and I don’t think I’d ever been so nervous stepping into an interview: technical support for hosting products. The prospect of working in an office which consisted entirely of the male species was quite nerve wracking! I wasn’t sure what to expect, how I’d be treated, if they’d act differently if I was around, and a whole bucket lot of other concerns. A year and 7 months later, here I am joined by the recent additions Kayleigh and Siobhan. I know you’re wondering ‘what’s it like? Being female and being in the hosting industry?’. If you want to know the truth of it, it’s quite hard to describe. I was lucky enough to be working in an environment where I was treated like any of the other employees, given all the same opportunities, the same tasks, the same ability to grow, everything! Considering how worried I was about changing how the rest of the staff felt, I was really thankful I ended up working for 34SP.com If I’m 100 percent honest, it isn’t always easy at times, and I do find this largely down to the unfortunate cases where I do end up speaking to someone who treats me differently because of my gender. Those calls are few and far between, but they do happen. Again, lucky for me it’s not long before I hear one of our customers raving about the fact that a lady got the case sorted. That always makes me smile as they’re always a pleasure to speak with and are always very encouraging. Women have come a long way and things are getting better as the days roll by. We’ve still got a long way to go, but with companies like 34SP.com who encourage all walks of life to be a part of this growing industry, we can’t be too far off.”

 

Siobhan

“Being a woman and working in a technical role is very positive and there are plenty of women that do. History could suggest I’m in a world considered a ‘mans world’ but I don’t see it that way. I’m happy and my male colleagues and customers accept me as a person, not a gender. I am enthusiastic about my career. I chose a career on the sales side of a technical company that way I get the best of both worlds. I get to work with my ‘techy, geeky’ colleagues whom I feel comfortable with and can relate to, I’m a huge gamer, another world considered a ‘mans world’. I work on the sales side because I love to talk to people and provide a good service where I get to make people happy. In future I would LOVE to see more women in technical roles, just as there are more men in the catering world. Things can only get better! As it’s National Women’s Day I’d like to assert that Ada Lovelace is often described as the worlds first computer programmer and Hedy Lamarr the most beautiful and intelligent woman in Hollywood, she invented spread-spectrum broadcast communications technologies. I’m happy that men and women share the technology world, because when we work together the possibilities are endless!”