EuroSTAR Conference

Europe's Best Software Testing Conference

Track Talk F7

One of the Lads – Things I’m Tired of Hearing about Women in Tech

Sophie Küster

10:00-10:45 CEST Friday 16th June

I’m the odd-man-out. Or rather odd-woman-out, that’s the point. I’m a woman in tech. By the reactions I sometimes get to that simple statement, you’d think I had just said that I’m a talking dog or a flying monkey. Why is that? Why, after all these years of discussing, campaigning and fighting, are women still underrepresented in tech? What can we do to change that?

A lot has been said to answer these questions. Sometimes even clever, helpful, well thought out things! I do not want to add yet another version of “pay us as much as the men and treat us like human beings, please.” I am also very aware that, as a white cis woman, I’m speaking from a position of privilege. I wouldn’t want to assume I know what every woman, let alone every non-male in tech needs or wants.

But still, in the debate about diversity and inclusivity, people have also said a lot of things to us and about us women in tech that set my teeth on edge. I’d like to tell you, from my totally personal, flawed, and biased point of view about the things that I – as a woman in tech – do not want to hear any more about the problem with women in tech, from the well-meaning, the mansplaining and the pet peeves to the straight-up infuriating. There might be swearing.

What you will learn

  1. Why I don’t want to be “one of the lads”
  2. Why pink and glitter and dolls and unicorns are not the enemy
  3. Why I belong in tech. And you, too.

Session Details

  • Introductory
  • 45 Minutes
  • Includes 15mins Q&A
  • Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion
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Session Speaker

Sophie Küster - EuroSTAR 2023 Speaker

Sophie Küster

Test Automation Engineer – Cronn, Germany

Sophie studied mathematics at university which did not go as planned. She finished with a diploma, nonetheless. Serendipity brought her into agile testing – and she has never looked back. She now works happily as a test automation engineer at cronn GmbH, a Bonn based IT company. After years of successfully hunting bugs, lately she’s also been working in Java backend development so she can cut out the middle person and introduce the bugs herself. In her free time, she enjoys doing ballet and SUPing (in non-lockdown times) or knitting and baking (in lockdown times). No stranger to the universe’s gut punches, she is passionate about improving awareness and communication about mental health and self-care.

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