Tip for women tech professionals: build self-confidence by believing in yourself
WOMEN professionals have been told to “lean-in”. They should not be hesitant to talk up their accomplishments. Do women after all, lack self-confidence, hurting their career ambitions? Has self-confidence prevented them from landing the career-enhancing “stretch” jobs?
There is scarce research that self-confidence has limited women’s ascent to leadership positions in the tech industry. What research there is points to our culture and upbringing influencing us in the way we view confidence. One way women can gain confidence is to believe in their own value and worth, and then the careers will naturally take off, says data scientist Dr Shonali Krishnaswamy, chief technology officer of Singapore start-up Aida Technologies which focuses on AI and ML-based predictive analytics and intelligent systems
Belief is critical, she believes, because it leads to self-confidence. Be proud of what you are doing, she advices young women tech professionals. “If you like what you’re doing, it’s no longer a chore or burden to speak up and be noticed.”
This is the career tip she gives to the women and men she mentored in Australia and here. Born in India, she moved to Australia for her postgraduate education where she earned a PhD in data mining. “That was when data science was not part of the tech lingo yet.”
She continued her research in Australia and was with Monash University in Australia for more than 11 years before moving to Singapore in 2011 to head the data analytics department at the Institute for Infocomm Research. She joined Aida in 2016.
At Aida, she is marrying a deep understanding of claims processing in the financial industry with the best way to leverage machine learning.
In trying to find the best solutions she says there are no straight-forward answers, “we have had to draw on research and creativity to design and develop state-of-the-art techniques.”
She’s excited because she is leading a team to bridge “the gap between what I call useful and truly usable”, a continuing challenge for the real-world adoption of machine learning (ML) technology.
“At Aida, we have been able to get people who are not ML savvy to understand and uptake what is the right way to adopt and use this technology to enhance their business activities, in a way that manages risks and concerns that come with the adoption of any disruptive/new technology”.
She adds: “We are probably one of the first companies to have delivered solutions that are running live in insurance in this region for claims processing.”
Dr Krishnaswamy is a role model for women tech professionals. She has honed her data science skills in research and supervised and mentored about 13 PhD students. She believes it’s very important to have role models for younger women to show them that it is possible for women to have challenging and cutting edge careers in the tech industry.
Initiatives like SG Women in Tech, she believes are key to encouraging girls to join the tech industry. This initiative by Singapore’s Infocomm Media and Development Authority and the women tech community in the nation state aims to attract, retain and develop female professionals in this industry.
