WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN TECH: INSPIRING ROLE MODELS

Magali Minet, Jenny Ambukiyenyi Onya, Laurence Jacobs, Elke Kraemer, Sana Afouaiz, Wendy Verheyden

It is easier to change the world if you see someone who has already started. This statement applies equally to the situation of women at the top of tech companies. However, gender stereotypes can be broken by inspiring role models. On 4 May 2023, Women Entrepreneur Initiative and KU Leuven's alumni engineering associations organised an inspiration evening at Group T Campus. Six young women entrepreneurs in Tech told their stories.

Recent figures from technology federation Agoria do not inspire optimism: 90% of Belgian tech companies are male. Only 10% of the founders and 13% of the directors of startups and scale ups are women. McKinsey & Company's annual reports speak of a “broken rung” at the first step up to manager. Women are promoted to manager at far lower rates than man, and this makes it nearly impossible for companies to lay a foundation for sustained progress at more and higher levels. Prof Wim Dewulf, Chair of Group T Campus, said in his welcome address: “If we do not have at least equal representation of women at all levels, we are missing out on critical talent that is indispensable for the digital economy and the competitiveness of our companies.”

Inclusive employer

Sana Afouaiz, founder and CEO of Womenpreneur Initiative highlighted the importance of diversity in businesses in her keynote. “The multiple perspectives of a diverse team are key to innovation. Also women teammates may bring a different culture and work atmosphere that can boost team morale. Women and men are known to have different communication styles. That means the workplace must be committed to mutual learning and listening to each other.”

That we should not lump all companies together was clear from the keynote by Wendy Verheyden, Communication Manager at VINCI Energies Belgium, a key accelerator in energy transition and digital transformation. As a high-tech company, VINCI Energies profiles itself as an inclusive employer that sees diversity as a strategic lever for sustainable business. For the third year in a row, the company is organising the 'Women in Tech' campaign to attract more women into senior positions. The campaign consists of an increasing number of testimonials from female role models in the company. The campaign is catching on. The percentage of women in management has already reached 30 per cent. “We make the path by walking,” says Wendy.

Tech and fashion

Katrien Herdewyn, honorary professor at the Faculty of Engineering Science and founder of Elegnano, addressed the audience from San Francisco. Katrien managed to combine knowledge of nanotechnology and talent in fashion in the creation of elegant and luxurious women's shoes. Last year, Katrien launched a textile manufacturing company that produces lab-grown leader with cutting-edge 4D biofabrication, tissue engineering and biopolymer processing techniques. As an engineer-entrepreneur, Katrien creates her own job. “To be succesfull in a business you have to stay focused on what you want, be ready to take risks, have a goal an believe in yourself,” said Katrien. “At the same time, it is also important to create your own environment and surround yourself with employees with whom you can share your drive.”

© Filip Van Loock

Community building

The keynotes were followed by an animated debate with Elke Kraemer, Founder & Partner of Clusity; Jenny Ambukiyenyi Onya, Co-founder and Managing Partner ton Fit-for-Purpose Technologies and Laurence Jacobs, Business Relations Officer at Agoria. Moderator was Magali Minet, alumna of Group T Campus and founder of Minet Innovators.

According to Elke, the focus should not only be on tech as such. “Tech encompasses all industries. I mention it because it might appear that other sectors are doing a lot better which is sadly not the case”. Laurence pointed out that there is not much disparity between men and women when it comes to leadership abilities. It cannot be denied is that there are biases and double standards whereby the bar is set higher for women than for male colleagues. Another challenge commonly faced by women is the work-family balance due to the high pressure and heavy workload of some technical positions”.

Jenny, in turn, believes that women need to join forces to break through. “On getting more women in tech roles today it is important building a strong female developer community where women can help and support each other in navigating the industry and provide guidance to other women who are interested in joining. In the end, it is all about mutual respect and understanding”.

Finally, Elke gave the following advice: “Stop talking about how bad we do it. Would you travel to a country where people warn you to travel to? Mirror yourself to role models and surround yourself with like-minded people. It takes a network to raise a career”.

Yves Persoons