Statistics have shown that about 72% of women experience different types of sexism in the tech industry, which is part of the reason we still have fewer women in tech compared to men. Misogyny plays out in different ways, and in an interview with Ezinne, she talked about some of them.
What is your name, and what do you do in the tech industry?
My name is Ezinne Kalu, and I am an application security engineer.
How long have you been in tech?
I have been in the tech industry for a long time but transitioned to cyber security about three years ago.
How did you find your way into tech?
It was from a personal hobby. I started designing websites after high school, then moved to mobile app development before switching to cyber security.
Was there a reason why you decided to switch to Cybersecurity?
Yeah, so I feel like security is where the smartest people are, and I always want to be in the same room with them. That’s why I decided to pursue a career in Cybersecurity, and so far, so good. It’s been an awesome one.
Would you say you’ve had an easy journey?
I have had a straightforward journey, but I won’t categorically say it was easy. There is a lot I didn’t have to do because of the programs that I did to get into the tech industry, and I’m very grateful for that ease.
Do you encounter any challenges as an application security engineer?
Well, I like categorising problems into two categories, just like I would categorise hard work. There are factors within my control and factors that are out of my control. I would say that I experienced a lot of challenges with factors outside my control—that would include the terrible electricity in Nigeria and the network issues as well.
Those were very big challenges for me. I remember when I was starting out in Cybersecurity, my computer could not come on without being plugged into a light, which was very, very frustrating. You can imagine how inconvenient that was. Those challenges were really difficult to overcome because there is only so little you can do to get electricity and a better network.
But apart from that, the challenges that came up on my end were things I could control. For example, I was a student when I started, and I had to make sure that my studies were okay and, at the same time, still put my best into Cybersecurity. I overcame those by thinking about my future and what I wanted it to look like. I decided that I wanted to be in Cybersecurity, and if I wanted to make a career out of this, I would have to wholeheartedly put my heart into it.
I had lots of sleepless nights, lots of skipping parties and hanging out with friends just to keep up and match up in the industry, so yeah, that’s what it has been. I will say the journey so far has never been smooth, but it’s been worth it.
Did you experience any misogyny?
Yes, now, according to statistics, the majority of Cybersecurity is led by men, and women are a minority, so coming into the space, you already know that you are going to experience a lot of misogyny. Some specific experiences I can remember that still happen till now is if it’s a communication via text, people would always assume that they are talking to a man.
My Twitter page has my pictures on there, and even though I wrote clearly in my profile that I’m not a man, people still call me ‘Bro’,’ Guy’, or ‘Sir’. When I now tell them I am a woman, they go on to say things like, “Wow, that’s so surprising; women don’t normally do this,” and I’m like, what’s that statement supposed to mean? So, yeah, I get that a lot.
Another thing I will add is that the cat-calling when going to work is why I no longer work on-site. I only take remote jobs, so if it’s not a fully remote position, I’m not going to be able to do that because I feel like the environment is just bad for me.
So, for women who do not have the luxury to choose and work on-site, is there a way they can navigate misogyny?
You see, the problem with navigating or keeping up with misogyny is that it makes you look as if you are managing it. It seems as if you don’t want to speak up, but you know that’s not the case because you cannot speak up against the system that is against you and still expect it to pay you.
Many women try to avoid these things. They ignore when something happens or somebody does something, but it is counterproductive because why are you ignoring when you could speak up and get justice? But then again, this is Nigeria, and Nigeria is not synonymous with justice. This means, as a Nigerian, it’s very difficult to get justice if you have been wronged, so that is the problem.
I can’t really advise women because it depends on what your end goal is; if your end goal is to get paid, keep your job and climb the ranks, there is little you can do that will not involve sacrificing that end goal, but at the same time there are also little things you could do. They call them micro-feminism, so those little acts of micro-feminism are a hundred per cent worth it. Start with little things like not serving everybody during a meeting, trying not to solve everybody’s problem, keeping your head high, and asking men to explain some of the jokes that they make. Things like that will help you make a stand and help other women who cannot possibly do that.
I think that’s important to Cybersecurity because I found out that a lot of the men in this field don’t have a better skill set or more experience than I do. So why should I have to compromise, keep silent, or endure when it comes to things like that? It doesn’t make sense. We have the same set of skills, so there is absolutely no reason why I would have to face those problems or suppress myself because of those things.
So, what did you wish you had known before becoming an engineer in Cybersecurity?
The first thing I’d say is that I wish I knew how important it is to have your basics right. For the longest time, I was stuck in this loop of trying to prove my work and show people that I knew what I was doing. The problem with that is you tend to neglect your fundamentals in that regard.
I’ll give you an example; now, as an application security engineer, we hack, and it is way cooler for me to tell you that I know how to hack an iPhone and I know how to break Android applications than for me to say to you I know how to navigate a window computer or I know how to navigate a window system. In chasing those cool hacks and tricks, you tend to forget your essentials and basics; without those basics, you will not make it very long. You may learn and cram some cool and interesting stuff, but once you get down to the nitty-gritty, there is nothing you can do because you don’t have the basics, which are very important.
I wish I knew the importance of basics, and I also wish I had more information. I guess because I didn’t have a lot of information, I was really moving blindly in some of these things, and you know how it is to move blindly. It just means that you don’t know as much as you are supposed to know or you don’t know as much as your peers know, and that leads to a problem because if your peers have more information than you, they move ahead faster than you do so yeah those are some of the issues, nothing really crazy.
Do you have a mentor, someone that you look up to, someone that guides you?
Yes, 100%; I do have tons of mentors. I believe that walking in other people’s shoes will always make the journey easier for you. I am one person that believes so much in talking to people and hearing people’s experiences cause that’s the only way you get ahead realistically. I have a professional mentor, a career mentor, a health and fitness wellness mentor, and just a lot of people scattered all over the place who are playing a vital role in guiding me into doing a lot of the big things that I want to achieve and do. None of them are men, and all of them are female mentors.
I know many people who have faced problems with male mentors; even when I mentor people, I always try to keep that gap because when men come close, they start to misbehave.
So, for my last question, what advice would you give to women in tech?
Don’t make assumptions. You don’t know it all. That’s a fact. Whatever you think you know, just assume you don’t know it.
Show up every day. Being able to show up every day puts you ahead by a billion pieces. Even though you think you are not smart, you’ve never done anything technical before or worked in a technical capacity, whatever it is. You can get ahead just by being consistent; that’s the fact. So, go back to your basics and be consistent.
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