Harnessing the Power of Women in Tech

When Shannon Harder first walked into the Houston Toyota Center for the Grace Hopper Celebration conference in September 2018, it was a revelation. She was joining more than 20,000 attendees in the arena — the majority of whom were women working in technology. 

“It was crazy to see so many women together, and it was a really impactful experience to my career as a technologist,” said Harder, who is a senior delivery manager at Workiva.

In tech, where women make up 28.8 percent of the workforce according to GHC organizer AnitaB.org, it’s rare to find a physical space where men are the minority. The conference offers a peek into an alternate dimension, and an experience that can help women and allies understand the possibilities of gender parity in tech. 

“I love the feeling of empowerment from being in a room with tens of thousands of women and allies,” said Abigail Beets, a senior software engineer at Workiva and fellow attendee. 

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Grace Hopper Celebration has gone virtual for the past two years. It may be hard to replicate the feeling of physically entering an arena full of women in tech, but attendees and organizers found new ways to build on this growing community of like-minded individuals in a digital environment. 

As a 2021 platinum sponsor, Workiva offered virtual event access to more than 60 employees and students from partner universities. The company used Slack channels as surrogates for coffee lines and watercooler chats, allowing the team to bond over powerful moments and gather at the end of each day to come up with ideas for how to transform inspiration into action. 

This year’s sessions generated reflection that led directly to new initiatives within Workiva’s Women In Tech employee resource group, which Harder co-leads. We talked to Harder and Beets about their experiences at the 2021 Grace Hopper Celebration and the initiatives that support their work.

Tell me about your experiences at the Grace Hopper Celebration event. 

Harder: Attending GHC the first time was an experience I didn’t know that I was missing. I had grown used to being an “only” in the room but this reminded me that that isn’t always the case. I was able to network with other women and learn about their experiences.

Beets: This was my seventh year attending. Attendance at GHC has more than tripled since I first went, and it was already a large conference back then. I love the feeling of empowerment from being in a room with tens of thousands of women and allies.

I was often the only woman in my computer science courses in college, and I knew that I would face adversity in the job market as a woman applicant. But when I entered GHC’s career fair, I saw that it was going to be different than I had imagined. Finally, I was the person they were looking for! I had a distinct advantage in that conference hall that I hadn’t had before. I was able to secure over a dozen interviews and took my first job after graduation with one of the event sponsors.

GHC gave me the confidence to press on, the advantage I needed to be seen, and the tools to help me find the success I was craving. I’ve been fortunate to attend almost every year since then as a GHC scholarship reviewer and recruiter for the companies I’ve worked with. It’s exhilarating because I’m able to make an impact on other women who are experiencing the conference for the first time like I did seven years ago, and I love that I can contribute to making GHC a rewarding and fulfilling event for them.

In 2021, I really enjoyed and appreciated the conversations created in our Slack channel. It helped us feel more cohesive, like we were there together instead of sitting at home watching on our computer screens. I was able to make meaningful contributions to our conversations that might not have been possible otherwise. It also became a repository for notable quotes and tips, and a place to connect with colleagues. 
 

Tell me about a moment that stuck with you from this year’s event.

Beets: One of the biggest takeaways for me was from a session about the differences in feedback given to men versus women. I learned that women tend to receive overly generic, unactionable feedback — fluffier comments that don’t adequately represent our skill sets and contributions, such as “caring” and “supportive” — while men receive comments that put them in line for promotions like “visionary” and “highly technical.” That hit me because I’ve been there. I’d ask what I can do to get to the next level and hear, “Keep doing what you’re doing.” But what if I’ve been doing what I’m doing quarter after quarter? What am I missing? It’s easy for your career to become stagnant when you’re not getting any feedback that helps you grow and your accomplishments are a side note at best.

I’ve been fortunate in my career to have role models who have helped me learn how to ensure I personally receive actionable feedback, but I want to make sure we provide that opportunity to all at Workiva.

Panelists shared prompts we can give our managers to receive better feedback, which was a nice call to action. The session ignited a frank discussion among the attendees, some of whom are managers who want to know what they can do better. I appreciate that we were able to have that kind of open and honest conversation, and that Workiva is always looking for ways to do better.

Harder: We also want to go back and help our teams apply this same feedback to the company as a whole. Women In Tech is hoping to create some initiatives to encourage managers to identify biased feedback and make changes. 

For me, one of the most memorable moments from this year was a keynote by Timnit Gebru. She talked about her story with Google. It hit me hard and made me wonder what we could be doing better at Workiva. What can I do as a leader of Women In Tech to make sure nobody here feels the way she did? 

Do you feel that it’s important to have formal structures to help women in technology grow their skills?

Beets: Absolutely. Informal processes put the onus on women to do everything for themselves. Without formal structure, if you don’t feel like you’re in a position where you can safely advocate for yourself, you will not be able to see the benefits of doing so. 

Harder: Exactly. If someone isn’t comfortable going to their manager, or has tried and isn’t getting what they need, they will be more likely to use an established structure where they know that there are resources available to help them.

What resources have helped you grow your skills at Workiva?

Harder: I never thought that leading an ERG was something that I would do. It wasn’t that I ever questioned the ERG, it was that I’d questioned myself. I just hadn’t considered leading until someone asked me if I was interested. That stretched me a lot, in a really good way. I’m really glad that I took the opportunity to grow.

Beets: Aside from being in the Women In Tech ERG, I was in a formal sponsor-protege mentorship program last year, where I was paired with an upper-level leader and worked with him for a year on my career goals. His guidance and support have been extremely empowering, giving me a much higher level of confidence in myself and my abilities. He continues to challenge me on a regular basis and pushes me to go further than I had dreamed I could. Participating in the program has helped accelerate my career more quickly than I had anticipated, and I’ve been able to take advantage of new and exciting opportunities along the way. I hope every person can have that type of relationship, where someone is taking concrete actions on your behalf to help you take your career where you want it to go. He’d tell you I did all of the work, but I still credit him for giving me a leg up to do that.

I hope every person can have that type of relationship, where someone is taking concrete actions on your behalf to take your career where you want it to go.” 
 

What would you want to share with women, or anyone else, considering a career in tech at Workiva?

Harder: One great thing about Workiva is that we recognize we are not perfect and really want to find ways to improve, and leadership shows that to us. You don’t have to go through an ERG; you can speak to any leader about your ideas. We want to see people involved, sharing ideas, and we want to make things better. 

Beets: Workiva is a company where you can make the change you want to see. You don’t have to sit down and be quiet and hope that your company does the right thing. All it takes is a couple of people stepping up to create waves of change that can have a huge impact on not just you, but every woman who comes after you.