SUSTAINABILITY
competitive sports supported her career as a woman in technology .
“ Having that experience of competing in a challenging environment gave me the confidence to speak up and express my opinions – even when perhaps I wasn ’ t welcome to ,” she says .
The drive to succeed and win – both personally and for the team – helped Lisa achieve what she set out to do and with that , surpass the barriers that she faced in being a woman and a minority in a male-oriented sector .
“ Having experienced challenges myself in getting into senior management positions I think I have a greater level of awareness and empathy for people of diverse backgrounds and the obstacles they face in their careers ,” she explains . “ As such , I seek to encourage them to believe in themselves and to speak up and to push themselves to their full potential .”
When Lisa first entered the C-suite , women were very much the minority in the technology sector . At the time , the sector knew it needed more women , but there were simply very few in the sector .
“ Women who graduated in STEM subjects tended to opt for careers in science , over careers in technology ,” she continues .
While Lisa thinks that this is still the case to some degree , she recognises that things have changed drastically since the 1990s .
Lisa adds : “ My personal experience is that the sector now promotes equality and encourages diversity , but I appreciate that that is not the view of everyone in the sector , so there is still work to do .”
These are sentiments echoed by Liz Parry , CEO of Lifecycle Software , a software development company which supports ‘ fearless innovation ’ in the telecoms sector .
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