Neena is a cybersecurity industry professional with over 15 years of experience in the areas of cybersecurity product management and sales engineering. She currently works as a Product Manager at Next where she enjoys translating complex cybersecurity challenges faced by organizations into usable solutions - Neena's LinkedIn Profile

I never knew I had to think of myself as a “Woman in Tech” or a “Woman in Engineering.” Growing up, I saw brilliant women and men as role models in different careers. Gender did not factor into deciding one’s career; if one wanted to pursue a career in any field - engineering, medicine, business, teaching, arts, finance, law, you name it, it was possible. My two older sisters studied engineering. In my undergraduate engineering class in India, of a hundred students, 60 were female. I didn’t think being a woman in engineering, technology or science was anything extraordinary. It was just - normal. Like any other career, if you had an interest and aptitude for it, one was free to pursue it. I realize I am lucky to have been brought up in an environment that enabled me to think this way.

So when did I become conscious of the fact that being a woman in engineering could mean I should expect a slightly different experience? Perhaps it was when I came to the United States to pursue my Master’s degree in Engineering and found I was the only female in my specialization. Or, when very early in my career, I heard a VP of Engineering say, “I don’t like hiring females, because they get married and leave.”? The overt sexism aside, it struck me how unfair it was that right out of the gate, people’s biases and prejudices about women could put them at a career disadvantage. At various conferences and tradeshows I attended, although I was the tech expert in the product, there were people who would come up to me and ask if there was “someone technical”  they could talk to. Did they assume I was non-technical because I am a woman? There were meetings where, if I attended with a male colleague, the person would look at the male colleague for answers. Fortunately, in these circumstances my male colleagues were allies who would point to me as the person to talk to.

I mention these things to acknowledge the fact that biases and prejudices can exist - unfortunately so. And yes, they exist in different forms - gender, ethnicity, country, location, cronyism, you name it. But this being women’s history month, I mention the gender-oriented biases. Which, I acknowledge, has significantly reduced due to the efforts of women who persisted in the industry and workplace despite the challenges they faced.  Also notice I say can exist - because not all people have biases. My experiences in the tech industry across three different cybersecurity companies, in different roles over the past 15+ years, have been largely positive. I’ve worked with some great leaders and very smart colleagues - both men and women, who’ve appreciated what I’ve brought to the table without gender-based limitations. In cases where one is faced with gender-based biases, don’t let it discourage you. Either try to address the issue or change your environment. And in these circumstances it's very important to keep in mind your why. Why did you pursue technology / engineering / cyber? There are no wrong answers - but hopefully it also includes the fact that you enjoy it. I enjoy being a Product Manager in the cybersecurity industry because I find building something to solve the constantly evolving challenges in the cyber landscape quite interesting. I don’t believe that reason is particularly gender specific. Try not to box yourself into certain behaviors with labels - that can be limiting. Technologists are problem solvers and the problem doesn’t check for your gender identity.