On March 28, in celebration of Women’s History month, the FCC hosted a twitter chat focusing on Women in Information Communications and Technology (ICT). The four panelists come from various sections of ICT: Ann Gallagher, Electronics; Engineer at the FCC; Rachel Payne, Founder & CEO of Fem Inc.; Alyssa Wright, Vice President and Director of Solutions at Open Geo; & Kate Chapman, Executive Director at Humanitarian Open Street Map. The chat highlighted their experiences, expertise, educational backgrounds, and words of wisdom to those interested in ICT.
The FCC would like to acknowledge and show appreciation to the 166 Twitter users who participated and/or promoted our hour-long discussion through enlightening and original tweets, retweets, and questions. Thank you for helping us reach more than 768,000 people with over 32 million impressions for our WICT chat. This chat was successful due to our panelists, and the active engagement of our followers and chat participants sharing their experiences, offering tips, and asking questions about ICT.
Useful Tips identified in the Twitter chat for Women in ICT:
1. Build your people-network to learn about opportunities, seek a mentor, and find a “champion” to help you climb the professional ladder.
2. Support other women -- pitch in, help out, do something to widen the net of success for all women.
3. Mentor because you believe in a better future, not because you know how to fix a problem. Don’t make assumptions, listen.
4. Be a creator, not just a tech consumer. Challenge the norms. Break rules. Do not be content with what already exists.
5. Don't be afraid to ask questions -- but exploring on your own is also important. You probably know more than you think.
6. Invest in other women. Imagine new possibilities.
7. Recruiters need to be honest about the demands of the job, particularly for candidates, male or female, with family obligations.
8. Don’t let the lack of women or diversity in the field deter you from seizing your dreams.
9. Go to meet-ups for topics which interest you. You'll make contacts and learn. Who knows--maybe you'll find your next position.
10.Being a woman in ICT can be amazing, empowering, humbling, & lonely. You need to act for yourself and on your own... be advocates & inspirations for other women.
If you were unable to join our WICT Chat, you can view the chat feed via Twitter or read the full transcripts. Thank you for your support, we are looking forward to hosting more chats & engaging with the public on various issues.