Trailblazing Women in Tech
By Karen Catlin Trailblazers inspire us. Whether they climbed a higher mountain than we thought we ever could, combatted a disease we fear, or …
By Karen Catlin
Trailblazers inspire us. Whether they climbed a higher mountain than we thought we ever could, combatted a disease we fear, or accomplished something of our dreams, we admire them and want to learn from them. We seek them out for inspiration. We may even want to follow in their footsteps and bring their journey to new levels.
I remember being inspired by a trailblazer when I was a junior in high school, wondering what I should study in college. My dad showed me a magazine article of a young woman earning more money than I could have imagined. Like me, she had been good in math and science in high school, and she had gone on to study computer science in college. My dad suggested I could do the same, and, having seen my parents live paycheck to paycheck, I was enticed by the potential salary. I knew I wanted to pursue a career where I’d be able to support myself. A year later, I was accepted at Brown University and declared computer science as my major. In hindsight, this was pretty risky—I had never even touched a computer (it was the early 1980’s). Fortunately, I enjoyed my classes, and, to this day, I still thank that trailblazer, whoever she was, for inspiring me to pursue an amazing career path.
There are many women in the tech field who are trailblazers. The first in their family to get an engineering degree. The only woman on an all-male development team. The first female architect or director of engineering at her company. The first woman to give a keynote at an open source conference. The first woman to be CTO of a Fortune 500 company. The list goes on…
Perhaps every technical woman is a trailblazer in her own way. There is no one path to follow, nor is there a single definition of success. Each individual figures it out for herself, identifying the kind of work she wants to do, the accomplishments she wants to be known for, and the life she wants to lead. Technical women are often inspired by those who’ve come before them, and they themselves will become role models for the next generation.
To showcase the tech trailblazers all around us, Femgineer has created a series of inspirational quote cards. Check them out on the new Femgineer Pinterest board.
About Karen: Karen Catlin develops powerful women leaders in the tech industry through leadership coaching and consulting. She partners with Femgineer to deliver inspirational talks, workshops, and coaching programs. Karen regularly speaks at women’s leadership conferences and writes for Femgineer, Women 2.0, and other leadership web sites. She also publishes “Use Your Inside Voice,” a blog about the intersection of leadership and parenting, at www.karencatlin.com.
Karen has an extensive background in Silicon Valley software companies. Formerly, she was a vice president at Adobe Systems, where she led a shared services department within the office of the CTO, and most recently, the CEO of Athentica, an early-stage startup. Karen went to Brown University where she received her bachelor of science degree in computer science along with many other trailblazing technical women. Follow her on Twitter: @kecatlin
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