{"id":18030,"date":"2023-02-28T14:30:30","date_gmt":"2023-02-28T03:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/explorecareers.emotedigital.com.au\/?p=18030"},"modified":"2023-03-01T10:45:59","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T23:45:59","slug":"celebrating-international-womens-day-with-sas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/explorecareers.com.au\/celebrating-international-womens-day-with-sas\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating International Womens Day With SAS!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u00a0<\/em>\u201cWhy are you taking a Computing degree?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWhy do you have to put yourself in a rigorous field?\u201d <\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n These were the questions Harshini Jayakumar, Systems Engineer Intern at SAS, was asked as an 18-year-old when she decided to study Computing and Data Analytics at university.<\/p>\n \u201cThe perception was that it was a challenging and male-dominated field,\u201d she says. \u201cIn the end, what won out was the urge to challenge myself.\u201d<\/p>\n In celebration of International Womens Day and to showcase the incredible women that form an essential part of their STEM teams, Harshini joins us to share her experience and career journey so far.<\/p>\n Keep reading to discover her inspiring career journey!<\/p>\n When I\u2019m asked why I chose to study and pursue a career in STEM, the answer is simple. I believed in breaking the stigma against women in technology and creating positive change by becoming an example others could look to. I strived to create an identity in this creative field and hope I will inspire many other women to pursue STEM as a career path.<\/p>\n To engage and provide exposure to other women about technology and coding in India, I participated in a non-profit organisation called TheGirlCode<\/a>, where women partnered with local schools to mentor and tutor young women in coding. We aimed to help young girls discover their interest in this field by providing them the skillset and tools for success.<\/p>\n Given my opportunity to study at a top-ranking university – The University of Sydney – I aimed to use the resources and networking opportunities to discover my role in the industry. I connected with Engineering Mentoring Head Anne Burnett, who helped to develop my leadership and mentoring skills by training me to be a Peer Mentor for new students.<\/p>\n Additionally, I gained valuable guidance from mentors Aaron Ngan and Tina Wyer by participating in university-partnered external programs like Australia Interchange Program<\/a>. Through the program, I was trained to apply my core skills to the external world, where we identified a lack of resources and networking between international and domestic students post-Covid and proposed a technological solution with a business value. At the end of the program, I connected with a larger community that helped reshape my professional and personal skills.<\/p>\nWords by Harshini Jayakumar<\/strong><\/h4>\n