Women of Silicon Roundabout

5,000+ women in one venue creates an inspirational environment.

Women of Silicon Roundabout was held in London in June and hosted over the course of 2 days with nearly 6,000 attendees, all ready to be inspired and take charge of their careers. The conference at its core revolves around empowering women, cultivating diversity in the technology industry and of course discussing emerging technologies. Over the two days, the conference centre was bustling with activity. From presentation stages with talks or panel discussions, hands-on seminars varying from technical to soft skills workshops and a plethora of company stalls; the attendees were spoilt for choice.

For a conference of this scale, there was no better option than to kick off the event with an inspirational woman delivering the keynote presentation.

Who received this honour?

None other than Baroness Karren Brady CBE. She focused her talk around 6 key points for success:

• Show Leadership
• Have Ambition
• Be Determined
• Change your Attitude
• Find your Direction
• Be Positive

But out of all these points, one phrase in particular, stuck with me, one in fact Baroness Brady has cut out of a newspaper and carried in her purse for years:

Nothing in the World can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.??? ??Calvin Coolidge

I also wanted to use this conference as a way to understand new technologies that have seemed complex or almost like buzzwords to me.

One of these was Quantum Computing. Natasha Norris' talk on 'What will a world powered by Quantum Computing look like?' made the subject accessible and explained the foundational concepts behind Quantum Computing, which removed the mystery around the topic for me. One of the predictions from this session related to security and scarily, how Quantum Computing could have the ability to break all current public key encryption methods. We're a while away from that, don't panic!

Personal Development

One of the core pillars supporting Women in Silicon Roundabout is career guidance and personal development, to up-skill and empower women to take charge of their careers.

One of the most insightful workshops I attended focused on sociology in the work environment, more specifically the difference in the communication styles of men and women. The research showed the differences in both body language, tone and specifics in a conversation between the two genders; highlighting how in order to be heard it is common for one party to adjust their communication style. Part of this workshop was to undertake the Thomas-Kilmann assessment to determine your conflict communication style. My own personal style turned out to be Compromising; the mix between assertiveness and cooperativeness, that focuses more on seeking out mutually acceptable outcomes. It was insightful to understand the dynamics that can affect communication and slight changes you can take to adopt a new conflict style, to achieve the desired outcome.

With the main theme of empowering women to champion their careers, there were several talks and sessions on finding your allies and how to progress professionally.

In various types of media, there has been an increase in the discussion of the gender pay gap, but what's clear is that knowing about the issue doesn't fix the issue, we have to stand up in order to create change. The workshop I attended on pay and promotion revolved around how to control your stake in negotiation and remove the awkwardness from the situation. It was clear from every woman in the room that there was confusion around identifying your worth and fear around asking for too much. Shockingly in the US only 7% of women negotiated when accepting graduate positions. By focusing on preparation, timing and your behaviour in the situation, every woman in the room left with the confidence to aim high and more importantly, the understanding that we are worth it.