'COVID-19 is an opportunity to focus on what really matters - Women in Tech Festival speaker Pauliina Jamsa
Jamsa tells CRN what viewers should take away from her Women in Tech Festival panel
"I've worked in digital marketing industry for 15-16 years now and I've seen few women attending these digital and technology events. A problem is that a lot of women don't relate to them, because they don't see anyone representing them on stage."
Pauliina Jamsa is a global senior digital marketing manager at Siemens, head tutor at Oxford University and international speaker.
She'll also be speaking at the Women in Tech Global Festival, which kicked off today. You can purchase a ticket for the two-day event here and view all of the content on-demand.
For her, the crux of representation in the UK tech sector boils down to connection.
"The lack of representation and connection is a problem and a huge part of many of these events. And it's a cycle, because if women don't really feel part of the crowd they don't have motivation or confidence to ask their managers to enter into these events."
Despite overcoming what she describes as crippling shyness and anxiety in the past, Jamsa felt she had no choice but to push to speak up at global events, to raise the visibility of senior women in tech.
"Fortunately, over time, I have seen a slight increase of representation. But it's not where it should be."
Her advice to management is to more proactively select more qualified women to take part, in an effort to overcome the "disconnect" that some of their female employees may feel.
"Just having one woman on the board is not fixing anything. Women need to be visible even in the grassroots of a business. And being visible at these events is a step forward."
However, she cautions against tokenism.
"That is definitely a vicious cycle. Imposter syndrome can be driven by a fear of tokenism. It can be quite negative for women.
"The feedback and talk from colleagues - even if they're joking - that they were only picked to participate or to speak because they are a woman can feed into feeling like they are an imposter, and that they don't belong."
The impact of COVID-19
While physical events may have been consigned to the past for now, COVID-19 has meant a huge acceleration in work for those in the tech sector.
For Jamsa, it's the busiest time in her career.
"In the Women in Tech Festival I'm speaking in the "Are you OK?" panel.
"It's about anxiety in the workplace and why it's important that people know that they can speak up if they are shaken.
"I've seen in my work that COVID-19 has shaken people a lot. Especially people with children…But also single people are struggling with loneliness.
"Without work events and with working from home so much, some people realise how few friends they have.
"It's not hidden anymore. COVID-19 is an opportunity to stop the hamster wheel and focus on what really matters."
Jamsa contends that companies have a responsibility to help in providing resources for their employees to look after their mental health.
And that it has a benefit to productivity and morale.
"Companies can provide free coaching, for instance. Because the truth is, these challenges are not going away."
She added: "It's about having confidence that you'll be ok. That you're able to get through this and thrive.
"That's what I'll talk about. I have an opportunity to talk in the festival about confidence and anxiety and all these fears that we might have and share.
"And more importantly, what to do about them.
"I was terrified of public speaking, but I embarked on this journey of becoming an International speaker, because I wanted to make a difference and show other women that we do belong to this industry. And I know that especially in the technology sector, there are a lot of people like me."