4 minute read
BREAKING BARRIERS: STORIES OF SUCCESS AND INCLUSIVITY IN TECH ENTREPRENEURSHIP
“Once you have reached your goals, look back and uplift others. Share success!” This was one of the many inspiring quotes made during Group T Campus’ second annual event on Women Entrepreneurs in Tech, held on May 7, 2024. Ten accomplished women entrepreneurs in the tech industry shared their journeys, and highlighted both the challenges and the opportunities they encountered. The event was co-organised with Sana Afouaiz, CEO of Womenpreneur-Initiative.
Professor Sabine Vercruysse, Vice-Chair Internationalization at Group T Campus, opened the event stating: “Our partnership with Womenpreneur is no coincidence. Female talent remains significantly underrepresented globally. We should at least aim for equal representation of women at all levels. Today we are missing out on invaluable talent.” Sana Afouaiz, award-winning gender expert and woman advocate, founded Womenpreneur Initiative in 2016. In her address, she highlighted the gap in female representation in tech, particularly noting that the Arab region has a much higher number of female engineers compared to Europe.
Inclusivity
The event also featured insights from corporate leaders like Nathalie van Ypersele, Diversity Equity and Inclusion Manager at Syensqo (former Solvay). She opened with the strong statement: “Having a female CEO is not enough. To truly foster the ambition of women, we need to raise the bar at all levels.” Syensqo has made huge strides in equality by implementing parental leave policies for fathers. “It does not only benefit the babies, it also takes away the disadvantage for women applying for jobs.”
Wendy Verheyden and Eddy Versmissen further elaborated on VINCI Energies' commitment to diversity and inclusion, shedding light on their initiatives to encourage more women to pursue technical roles. Eddy revealed a notable gender disparity in job applications, where men often apply for roles when they meet only 60% of the job qualifications, whereas women typically apply when they meet 90-100% of the criteria. This demonstrates the importance to women not to wait too long pursuing opportunities. Wendy emphasized VINCI Energies’ investment in raising awareness among managers, both male and female, regarding the biases that may influence their decisions.
Testimonials
From the corporate stories we moved to testimonials from Dr. Fanny Bardé, Founder & CTO at Solithor, and Dr Buvana Levevre founder & CEO at Aleri Technologies. Both with academic backgrounds, they jumped into entrepreneurship seeking sustainable solutions. Fanny’s passion lies in battery technology, while Buvana focuses on solar energy. Fanny encouraged the audience to “Have an opinion, communicate it and believe in yourself.” While Buvana urged: “Make sure you do it for your right reasons and not someone else’s.”
Debate
After the testimonials, the panel continued in the same uplifting spirit. The panelists were: Rita Verreydt, CEO Uptime Group; Laurence Jacobs, Business Relations Officer at Agoria; Dr Audrey-Flore Ngomsik, Co-Founder & CEO of Trianon Scientific Communication; Pauline Van Ostaeyen, Co-Founder at Dockflow, and Marie Logé, Co-Founder-better-app.org. The debate was moderated by Magali Minet, Founder of MINET-Mind Innovators.
Audrey, a passionate advocate for sustainability and inclusivity, stated that companies prioritize environmental initiatives when they bring financial gains. In line with this philosophy, her company actively strives to make sustainability strategies profitable and profitability strategies sustainable. Additionally, Audrey highlighted the importance of building a supportive network as a woman in business, enabling individuals to be their true selves. Marie, a young entrepreneur, fully agreed on this. Following her dream in tech endeavors, she encounters the challenges of securing funding, a solitary and draining process. “Having a network for both big and small matters, will help you overcome all challenges along the journey”, she said.
Rita, who transitioned from history teacher to CEO of a Tech Company, conveyed the message that success is not solely a question of luck: “Luck is there for everyone, but they don’t bring it to you. You have to actively seize it.”
Pauline, who embarked on her tech journey during her student years, advised aspiring entrepreneurs to start as early as possible. “When you are young, you have fewer responsibilities and financial commitments, with the potential fallback on your parents.”
Laurence believes in the power of knowledge sharing and mentorship. She emphasized the value of supporting and guiding others along their entrepreneurial paths.
For women working in tech companies lacking inclusivity awareness, the message was straightforward: “It is not your responsibility to change the company culture. Instead, raise awareness and ensure your voice is heard. If your concerns are disregarded, consider moving on, but be sure to give your reasons. There are plenty of opportunities elsewhere in tech.”
Hettie de Kruijf
