The tech industry is a male-dominated world even as women have been conquering more and more ground. Many factors contribute to this scenario, such as access to education, gender family roles, lack of equal opportunities, and all the subtle little and not so little ways everyday gender stereotypes undermine women. Today we’d like to focus on one of these aspects: perfectionism.
In the western world, girls are still raised to be sweet, quiet, and delicate. We grow up learning to please people and always put others ahead of ourselves. To be “a good girl,” we have to be perfect. But the thing is, striving for perfection is the opposite of what the tech industry needs from its people.
Girls Who Code founder and political activist Reshma Saujani puts it very well when she says that “perfectionism hinders excellence.” How can we live behind these gender “norms” that hold us back behind?
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You Don’t Really Want To Be Perfect
In her book, “Brave, not Perfect”, Saujani says girls are not taught to take risks, experiment, or ask questions. From a very young age, we are warned not to get dirty, not to talk too loud, not to mess up our pretty clothing, and so on. Just observe kids interact in the playground. Only girls are being interrupted in their play to get their skirts pulled down.
So before we go on talking about leaving perfectionism behind, it’s essential to notice that this idea was imparted to you. You don’t really want or need to be perfect. You have just been assimilating that for such a long time. Since before you can even remember.
https://blog.vanhack.com/blog/empowering-women-to-apply-for-tech-jobs-abroad/
Perfectionism Is The Opposite Of What You Need To Succeed In Tech
The tech industry is fueled by innovation. It’s just not possible to create new things, think about the world differently, and disrupt markets while chasing perfection. The most perverse side of trying to be perfect is that we often do it out of fear. Fear of not being liked, fear of being ostracized, fear of hurting those who love us.
Thriving in the tech world requires courage. We women are no stranger to working hard, sacrificing for a goal, and being organized and systematic. Those are great qualities for leadership positions in tech. But we are also told not to speak up for ourselves, not talk too much about our ideas, not to try anything unless we are 100% sure, and so on.
https://blog.vanhack.com/blog/lets-break-excluding-stereotypes-to-strengthen-women-in-technology/
You Are Good Enough
Speaking of 100%, maybe you heard this one before. A Hewlett-Packard research published in Forbes magazine shows that “Women working at HP applied for a promotion only when they believed they met 100 percent of the qualifications listed for the job. Men were happy to apply when they thought they could meet 60 percent of the job requirements”.
HP numbers tell us that women don’t give themselves the chance to try. This “perfection or nothing” mindset keeps us from being reckless but hurts us in the long run. Especially in the tech industry, which needs innovators, people who “think outside the box,” and, quite frankly, people who push things just a bit.
So the challenge here is to find a place where you feel safe just enough to try. You don’t need to be perfect. You don’t need to get everything 100% right. It’s OK to leave some room for improvement. Because trying and sometimes failing is not the end of the world. It’s all about finding a way to leave the conditioning behind and being able to fail without quitting.
Olympic champion and author Abby Wombach says:
“We’ve been living by the old rules that insist that a woman must be perfect before she’s worth showing up. Since no one is perfect, this rule is an effective way to keep women out of leadership preemptively. Men have been allowed to fail and keep playing forever. Why do we let failures take us out of the game? Imperfect men have been empowered and permitted to run the world since the beginning of time. It’s time for imperfect women to grant themselves permission to join them.”
VanHack Wants To Help More Women Get Hired For Tech Jobs Abroad
We are working to the best of our abilities to help more women get hired in tech jobs abroad. VanHack’s mission is to make the tech industry more diverse, one new hire at a time. In 2021, 20% of all the VanHackers who landed their dream international job identify as women. Let’s hack together to make it to 50%?
Our hiring events are an excellent way for candidates to get in touch with amazing tech companies looking for international talent. Did you know we hold regular hiring fairs focused on women?
If you are a female-identifying developer and have 4+ years of experience, make sure to check out our events calendar.
VanHack Hiring Event for Women in Tech will allow you to network with several companies of different sizes, from start-ups to enterprises. In addition, you will interact directly with company representatives, enabling you to make a great impression and land an interview. Relocation and remote opportunities are available.
One of the most significant benefits of attending a VanHack virtual event is the ability to participate in prep classes. These prep classes are tailored specifically to help candidates prepare for the Hiring Event for Women in Tech and the interviews after. For Women In Tech events, we also offer confidence-building workshops and the opportunity to connect with like-minded peers, share tips, and access a designated VanHack staff member in a private slack channel.
Go For It!
A whole world of opportunities awaits on the other side of fear-fueled perfectionism. Although never perfect, we are stronger than we are taught to believe. Take it from Saujani:
“Will you make mistakes, sometimes even fail? Certainly. Will this bring you down? No way, girl”.
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