Varinder jit Kaur x International Women’s Day 2022
This week is all about celebrating the amazing women at Banxa!
As part of celebrating International Women’s Day, we’re diving into different departments of our company this week to introduce some of our amazing women at Banxa.
Today we would like to deep dive into our development department.
According to a Pearson Frank survey, women only make up 11% of the developer workforce although there is a high demand for developers globally. Some experts and researchers point out that the challenges with attracting more women into the tech industry actually originate in school already. According to a report by Accenture and Girls Who Code, “It is widely acknowledged that to have the greatest impact, efforts to attract women into computing must start at the earliest stages of a girl’s educational life.”
Aside from that, women who are in the STEM field face a number of challenges, such as “extreme hours, bias, exclusion and isolation, and leaders not seeing them as having leadership potential.”
Leaders and mentors are important figures in terms of gender equality, as their conduct sets clear expectations of what is acceptable and desirable, and can be the key to reinforcing inclusive behaviour.
“To enshrine gender equality as an organisational mindset and cultivate a diverse, inclusive and respectful workplace culture, leaders need to establish direction and ensure responsible oversight of equality practices within their organisations,” reads the Advancing Gender Balance in the Workforce: A Collective Responsibility report. “This involves communicating the importance of gender equality, defining the values, principles and codes of behaviour that are expected in the workplace, establishing supporting structures to address and respond to issues of equality.”
Another additional reason why female developers are underrepresented in the Computer Science department could be based on a lack of role models in this field.
For this reason, we believe this is a great opportunity to introduce Varinder jit Kaur to you today. Varinder is one of the relatively small number of women working as a developer.
Hi Varinder, Thank you so much for your time today. Would you mind introducing yourself?
As you know my name is Varinder jit Kaur, I am a software developer at Banxa. I have been with Banxa for the last 10 months and currently I am working in the Payments team and I love working at Banxa. I am originally from India.
Perfect, Thank you. What are your responsibilities at Banxa?
My responsibilities at Banxa are to make sure that our customers are having the best user experience while doing payments. Since our customers are from all over the globe, in the team we want to make sure that our customers are not paying extra charges for payments. So, I work with my team to add various countries’ local payment methods globally.
That sounds exciting! How long had you been working in the crypto / tech industry before you joined Banxa?
Honestly, I was not much into the crypto or finance industry before joining Banxa, although I have worked as a software developer in other industries. However, since I joined Banxa, I have been educating myself and have bought some crypto coins. That is what I love about Banxa, that it helps everyone to grow.
What do you find most exciting about working in this industry?
I am so excited that I have got an opportunity to contribute and learn about the crypto/finance industry which is not only helping the company to grow, but also enhancing my personal knowledge about the crypto industry. Moreover, here at Banxa we have a Digital Academy which provides Lunch and Learn sessions to educate the team members about various aspects of the crypto industry.
What is the most important thing for you when it comes to a company culture / working environment?
For me, the most important thing is the behaviour of people around me in the working environment. That’s what I like the most about Banxa, everyone is so kind, helpful and very easy to talk to, independent of their position in the company. The way we have a culture of open communication, each and every team member can share their ideas or raise concerns.
You are working in a very male-dominant industry, did that have an impact on your decision to work in this industry at all?
No. I chose this industry because I love my work as a developer and found this industry very fascinating. I thought the best way to explore and learn about this industry is to be into it and interact with these concepts on a daily basis.
What advice would you give to younger women who want to join the crypto or tech industry?
Don’t be afraid of the world out there. Just put your efforts to achieve what you want. I personally like to go step by step. I usually start reading the related articles to get used to the terms and then dive into it.
That was very inspiring! Thank you Varinder.
You have more questions for Varinder? Feel free to connect with her on LinkedIn.