#WomenInTechPK - Meetup # 2 Roundup!

#WomenInTechPK did its Meetup # 2 on 8^th July, 2017 and this time 10Pearls hosted us in their Karachi office, a massive thank you to Sana Hussain (Senior HR Manager – 10Pearls) and her team for the generosity and their constant support. The meetup had an open agenda and our members discussed various topics and issues concerning themselves and their fellow women in tech and/or women in workplace.

I couldn’t be there due to my mom’s surgery but I heard about the discussions later and the attendees were kind enough to share the key takeaways from the meetup. To sum it up:

• Mentorship is required for our young undergrads and they need to see female role models to know that they have a place in the industry and can climb up the career ladder like their predecessors.
• Men should be involved in the mentorship activities because their support is necessary in taking the cause forward.
• Universities/colleges should be reached out so that we can meet with aspiring technologists and help them with getting into the industry and also, in skilling up.
• Women have more responsibilities inside their households and most of them quit their careers after getting married or having kids. Employers in general and especially in tech should make women friendly policies to retain their female employees and help them with their care work. This will also generate business value for the employers in terms of not losing their best talent and employee satisfaction.
• Members should come forward and interact with each other, this can help in creating a better network for them and a better sense of community for all of us. We can have planned activities on the group to engage more members and increase learning opportunities.
• 10Pearls and Genetech Solutions offered their facilities to the community for organizing workshops and bootcamps.

If you want to know more details on the meetup, check Saba Khalid’swrite-up at Aurat Raj here. You can also check the event coverage by 10Pearls and Tech Juice here.

Special thanks to all the members who could join the meetup and gave valuable suggestions and insights into the issues.

We have been working on a master plan for the group for past few weeks now and these suggestions are our action items.

If you like to join our community, please check here (its Women only).
If you want to read about our first focus group and first meetup, please check here and here.

If you want to read me ranting about random things, follow me on twitter (or don't!) :p

Picture Credits: Saba Khalid and Sana Hussain