It’s difficult to find female talent in the tech industry, and it’s a real problem. Apptivate’s Women in Mobile series is back this March to celebrate Women’s History Month and to discuss how to close the gender gap in our industry. In this episode, Maria chats with Laura Schwarz, Airship's Senior Director of Sales for EMEA, who joined a handful of other female tech leaders in launching a program that invites young girls and boys to learn about different jobs within tech companies. To date, the NOW+NEXT program has reached over 6,000 young girls throughout the UK with plans to expand to the U.S.

Questions Laura Answered in this Episode:

• What led you to where you are in your career today?
• How do we encourage women to break into our industry?
• What has excited or inspired some of the girls who’ve gone through our internship?
• Can you tell us about your career story and also introduce Airship to our listeners?
• What makes you excited to be working in your current role?
• Do you have any advice for our listeners?

Timestamp:

• 1:10 Laura’s background
• 5:10 The effect of “bro culture”
• 6:50 Women are still underrepresented in tech
• 8:09 Introducing tech careers to girls
• 14:30 NOW+NEXT
• 16:10 We won’t want men “out of the room”
• 18:12 What helps get young people excited about tech careers?
• 21:42 About Airship and Laura’s role
• 26:55 The forefront of innovation
• 29:28 Career advice for young listeners

Quotes:

(8:40-9:03) “I get 50 applications from male candidates and one female. How is that? Where are the women applying for jobs? This is a real problem, and we have to find a solution to that.”

(15:15-15:30) “I think that’s what a lot of women in different areas of business and research are doing – they’re paving the way and they’re always asking, ‘What’s next?’ We’re not satisfied with the status quo.”

Mentioned in this Episode:

• Laura Schwarz’s LinkedIn
• NOW+NEXT Program