Is it true that there’s still a gender gap in technology? Yes, for now, but things are changing rapidly.
Now, can you imagine, princess Cinderella, Elsa, and Jasmine sitting in front of their computers, writing computer code, and smoking cigarettes in their trousers? No, right?!
In today’s world, tech-friendly works are still under the male domain, yet, current stats say that it’s about to change soon. #EmbraceEquity
The stereotype monster is dying a slow death for years now. Women are everywhere in technology. Thanks, to female mentors who have encouraged more and more women to pursue their careers. So, in this post, we’ll talk about some prosperous women in WordPress who are making a big contribution to the tech.
Now, let’s start with some statistics fast, and see where they lead us.
Women in tech statistics: In last 5 years
The tech industry is thriving more day by day as businesses are accelerating and alluring new opportunities. But many people consider it a “boys-only” arena. So, is there gender discrimination in tech? Not much.
But, what does gender diversity looks like in 2023? Here’re some statistics for a clear idea.
- Businesses with fair management teams are likely to gain 25% more profitability.
- 33% tech-related workforce is contributing by women.
- More than 50% of women in tech leave their job because of harassment and sexism.
- Female founders receive only 2% of VC funding.
- Black women CEOs get 38% fewer paychecks than white male CEOs.
- In 2022, the number of women in tech increased by less than 1%.
- 50% of women leave their job by the age of 35.
Luckily, women continue to work and show their magic anyway. In this post, we’ve introduced 5 amazing women from WordPress, who’re contributing to the ecosystem continuously to make it more useful. So, let’s get to the list.
Women in WordPress: Featuring 6 wonder women
Here we’ve talked about what they exactly do for the community and platform, their journey throughout the years, or months, and what they have to say to other women to make their life better. Besides, we’ve shared their social channels, so that, you can connect with them, and learn through their experiences.
Meet Michelle Frechette
Michelle Frechette is the Director of Community Engagement for StellarWP at Liquid Web. In addition to the work of StellarWP, she is a Podcast Barista at WPCoffeeTalk.com, cofounder of underrepresentedintech.com, creator of wpcareerpages.com, the president of the board for BigOrganHeart.org, director of Community Relations and contributor at PostStatus.com, co-host of the WPMotivate podcast, co-host of the Audacity Marketing podcast, author, business coach, and a frequent organizer and speaker at WordPress events. Yeah, take a breath now!
She attended her first WordCamp in 2014 but started her journey before that with her best friend. Now she lives outside of Rochester, NY, where she’s an avid nature photographer. Let’s see what she told us about her journey, and her advice for the women of the WordPress community, or even who are thinking about the ramble.
When did you first get in touch with WordPress? Tell us about your early days.
The first WordPress website I ever logged into was a website for a nonprofit organization that my best friend and I founded. I had no idea what I was doing. Her husband built the site for us and gave us logins to add the content. It was like walking into someone else’s house and trying to figure out where everything was and how it worked, but I loved it! That site and the organization no longer exists, but it sparked my love for WordPress and then the community.
When did you start working with the community or started actively contributing to WordPress along with your day job?
I attended my first WordCamp in 2014 and was in awe of the community. I couldn’t believe I could attend a full-day conference for $25 including lunch and a party! And I learned so much that day.
The following year I applied to speak then also joined the organizing team. From then on I attended many WordCamps and applied to speak at most of them. I’ve also been on many organizing teams.
I’m now a WordCamp and meetup mentor. I’ve also been on the WCUS organizing team for years. I’m a moderator for the WordPress Photo directory and have contributed over 100 photos there, too.
I love connecting people in WordPress to each other and to solutions. I’ve found that my work on podcasts and with Underrepresented in Tech is truly valuable in the community. My weekly tweet thread with job openings has been helpful to many people also in conjunction with the wpcareerpages.com site. Helping people in WordPress is my passion.
What changes do you want to see in WordPress in the future?
I’m excited about the accessibility features that are being added. We definitely need to make sure that WordPress is accessible both for site visitors AND those using the dashboard. So any changes we make going forward need to be aware of that.
And I’m excited to see multilingual be added to the dashboard as well. True accessibility doesn’t end with screen readers. We need to make sure that if we really mean that WordPress democratizes publishing that it’s available to everyone regardless of the language they use.
What suggestions do you have for the women who are aspiring to thrive in this sector? Share your experience of working with the community that might inspire others to get more involved.
Find your passion in the space, then connect with others who share that passion. Our community thrives because we help one another regularly.
Find spaces for networking. Make connections. There are very few people in WordPress who aren’t interested in connecting. And I don’t know any women who wouldn’t be open to growing their network. Reach out. Sometimes it feels scary, but it’s always worth it.
Devin Maeztri, woman of WordCamp
Devin Maeztri is the Community Engagement Specialist at Automattic.com. Her first experience with camps started when she volunteered impromptu at an Indonesian event, in WordCamp Denpasar, Bali in 2016. After that, she became more interested in WordPress and the community, and began to be a regular part of WordCamp events.
By the time, she started showing how WordPress can be used locally, encouraging others to translate WordPress, helping to give more access to diverse audiences. Besides, Devin has worked for international development organizations on everything from campaigning to policymaking. She said, “My work on the ground usually involved researching, movement building, and community empowerment”.
For the people who are still thinking about working with WordPress, and looking for the opportunity, she encouraged them by saying, “It is not that hard to fall for WordPress if you have a chance to experience WordPress. For me, it took a WordCamp.” To know more about Devin, you can check out a recent interview taken by WordPress.
Meet Afshana Diya
Afshana Diya is the CMO at WPDeveloper.com. She leads the marketing and business development efforts for the products of WPDeveloper. Currently, she lives in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Her journey in WordPress began in 2009, when she was in school, and started using it for blogging. Let’s go through her interview.
When did you first get in touch with WordPress? Tell us about your early days.
I have been using WordPress for nearly 14 years now. My journey began in 2009 when I was in school and started using it for blogging. Later on, I built my personal website using WordPress. As I continued working with WordPress, I gradually became heavily involved in the WordPress community.
When did you start working with the community or started actively contributing to WordPress along with your day job?
In 2017, I attended my first WordCamp in Singapore, followed by WordCamp Jakarta in the same year. Meeting Rocío Valdivia at that WordCamp inspired me to get involved in the local community in Dhaka. I began organizing meetups and, in 2019, we organized the first WordCamp Dhaka, where I was the only female organizer among 28 others.
After experiencing difficulty finding female speakers, I started a group called Women Who WP Bangladesh to encourage more women to get involved. After that, I joined as Community Deputy and WordCamp Mentor, contributing to numerous open-source projects and also served the all-women Release Squad for WordPress 5.6.
I have also spoken at several WordCamps and joined panel discussions to inspire others. I was organizer for WordCamp Europe 2022 and first-ever WordCamp Asia this year.
What changes do you want to see in WordPress in the future?
As a marketer, I believe that WordPress has a promising future ahead as it strives to be more inclusive and diverse, adapting to the evolving needs of the web industry. With a growing user base and a thriving ecosystem, WordPress is committed to making the platform more accessible and user-friendly.
I personally believe that the strength of WordPress lies in its loving community. To stay ahead in a competitive market, the WordPress community must continue innovating and prioritising diversity and inclusivity.
What suggestions do you have for the women who are aspiring to thrive in this sector? Share your experience of working with the community that might inspire others to get more involved.
From personal experience, being involved in the WordPress community has been a great way to learn, grow, and thrive in the industry. For women working in this sector, I suggest to attend WordPress events, join online communities, contribute to open-source projects and collaborate with others. Stay open to new opportunities, embrace challenges, and prioritize ongoing learning and growth to succeed in this dynamic and thrilling industry.
Sunita Rai, speaker at WordCamp
Sunita Rai is the Head of Marketing at ThemeGrill. Her journey with WordPress started in 2015 when she joined a WordPress development company as a Junior Content Writer. In 2016, she made her first contribution to WordPress by speaking at WordCamp Kathmandu on “content writing”.
Her answers through our interview
Despite having no prior experience with WordPress, I was fortunate enough to have supportive colleagues who helped me learn the ropes on the job. In the same year, I had the opportunity to attend WordCamp Nepal 2015, which allowed me to immerse myself in the WordPress community and culture. I was impressed by the people, the swags, and the food.
In 2016, I made my first official contribution to the WordPress project by speaking at WordCamp Kathmandu on ‘content writing.’ However, I had already been contributing informally by writing content about WordPress. Over the next few years, I continued attending WordCamps as an attendee, and in 2022, I joined the WordCamp Kathmandu organizing team as a Speaker Wrangler. I also got a chance to speak at the historic WordCamp Asia 2023.
The WordPress community is a diverse, respectful, and beautiful place where everyone is welcome. However, there is always room for improvement, particularly in encouraging more women and other minority groups to participate in the WordPress community and business. I want to see the leadership in the WordPress industry even more diverse, inclusive, and empathetic. Despite this, WordPress is a beautiful space free of discrimination and offers abundant opportunities for everyone. Therefore, I encourage women, girls, and everyone to come to the industry with confidence and great ambition, as I firmly believe you can succeed. The WordPress community awaits you; let’s thrive together in this beautiful space!
Emma Young
Emma Young is the Head of Content at Hostinger. Currently, she is working on blogs, tutorials, and newsletters, and helping people achieve success online. Her first journey with WordPress started when she was at the University. Since then she hold the consistency and contributed to the community. Let’s look into her experience throughout the journey.
When did you first get in touch with WordPress? Tell us about your early days.
My first WP site was in university, way back when I had an HTML5 class, and we had to make a website from scratch up also from WordPress to see how they differed. I remember how easy it was to add coffee beans as my background and to set up the colors, and I thought it was “so cool.” The blog was about my experience as a barista, as I was working at Starbucks at the time. It was the first time I really fell in love with storytelling and tried to figure out how I could write in a way that whoever was reading my blog could picture the story, like they were there, experiencing it themselves.
When did you start working with the community or started actively contributing to WordPress along with your day job?2
I started contributing last summer after Hostinger went to its first WCEU. My Team Lead had volunteered on Contributors Day to the Documentation team, and if you work for 2 days at Hostinger, you know how much I love documentation and consistency. So naturally, it was a match made in paradise. Since then, a few more people from my team have joined the Docs team, and even more, have joined the Polygots.
What changes do you want to see in WordPress in the future?
I would love the onboarding for contributions to be a bit smoother, but at least for the Docs team, that is well underway. Not so much a change, but to continue the innovations and figuring out ways to give WP users simplified ways to do what they want on their sites. And, of course, more consistency (my other favorite word) with contributors contributing. (say that five times fast 😉 )
What suggestions do you have for the women who are aspiring to thrive in this sector? Share your experience of working with the community that might inspire others to get more involved.Go for it! I’m not sure what I was expecting before joining the community and before my first WordCamp, but all my expectations were exceeded. And to be honest, I’m not sure what I’m expecting at the next one or the next stage in my journey. I’ve made new friends, new contacts, and everyone is always there to help each other in any way possible. Enjoy the adventure, don’t overthink it, just go for it <3
Greet Mumtahina Faguni
Mumtahina Faguni is the Content & Marketing Executive at WPDevelopers. There she’s in charge of making tutorials, insights, videos, visuals, and stunning landing pages for the website. She started her journey in 2019 and attended many WordCamps since then.
Her answers through our interview
I can specifically remember when I first got in touch with WordPress, which was in 2019. That year, Dhaka WordCamp happened, and out of curiosity, I managed to get a ticket within 4 minutes and attended it. That time I was introduced to a new world: WordPress. Where I found it, there is an opportunity to contribute as a volunteer as well as so many working opportunities in WordPress-based companies. It really inspired me a lot. From my college days on, I was involved in charity and community-based activities. But WordPress wasn’t that buzzing word around my surroundings, so I missed the chance to get involved from a very early age! So when I was first introduced to WordPress, I grabbed the change and from then on never let it go.
Community-based work runs through my veins. I enjoyed translating WordPress strings in my free time and was also heavily involved in arranging local meetups on Translating WordPress, Women in WordPress, and the list goes on. But getting active with other WordPress contributing sectors’ story is kind of dramatic. My translations weren’t getting approved, so I kind of gave up hope. But on my birthday, my boss accepted one of my translation contributions and gave me the badge. This incident inspires me a lot and gives me the motivation to bring more people into the community and share joy. After that, our office also encouraged everyone to be a part of the ‘Five for the Future’ program and thus started contributing to my favorite sectors like Marketing, WPTV, Polyglots, Photos, Testing, etc. Apart from the meetups, most of the WordPress community is online based. As I enjoy community activities from my heart, they have never conflicted with my daily office activities. It’s like whatever you enjoy, you will always find time for it.
Currently, WordPress removes the fear of creating your own website, even if you do not know how to code. But there is still room for more. In the future, I want to see WordPress get the highest mark for accessibility. Then we can dream of a world where people from everywhere have their own websites in WordPress.
From being an attendee at WordCamp Dhaka to being a volunteer at WordCamp Kolkata and WordCamp Asia, the journey was amazing. And more WordCamps and contributing planning are flying around in my head. The thing that has brought me this far is the mindset to give it a try! In the open-source community, there is no restriction for males or females; anyone can get started today. The biggest regrettable thing girls in my surroundings do is not take an extra step out of their comfort zone. If we can take one small step from our cozy environment, that will take us a long way. And specifically to get involved in the WordPress community, start exploring local meetup events and joining them. Also, get started with the ‘Making WordPress Slack’ channel to keep yourself involved with your preferred sectors. If you are reading this, hopefully, will meet with you at the next meetup or WordCamp beside me.
What else?
Women’s empowerment is important to promote women’s sense of self-worth, determine their own choices, and their right to change them for themselves and others. In recent years, women’s rights have emerged as a part of major global movements, and days like International Women’s Day are also gaining momentum.
So, on this women’s month, we wish all the women out there a very prosperous career and shine every day!
