In a positive development for women in the South African IT industry, five young female interns who took part in Data Management Professionals South Africa’s (DMP SA) annual internship programme have all been placed permanently with the company. This is in line with the organisation’s efforts to transform the traditionally male-dominated IT sector.
Johan Venter, Head of Technical Operations at DMP SA for global services, says the company is seriously committed to promoting diversity and inclusion, and this forms part of its talent acquisition and hiring process as it actively encourages individuals from diverse backgrounds to apply for available positions.
“Being a shift-based work environment, women were initially hesitant to apply for opportunities that required travel at all hours of the day and night. Considering the high levels of crime in South Africa, we were acutely aware of the safety risks for women to travel and had found it had also proven itself to be a hindrance for women to enter the IT sector,” Venter explains. “However, with hybrid work, that is no longer an obstacle, and being a company with deeply entrenched social responsibility values, we welcomed the opportunity to grow our representation in terms of gender following the successful roll out of a fully hybrid work environment.”
Scarce skills
He says that the internship programme came about not only to pass on knowledge and skills within the data management field, but to drive work-integrated learning. Hence, beyond equipping interns with scarce skills that they can take into the industry, the programme also provides them with experience of working within an organisation and interacting with people.
Mohammed Sayed, Head of Technical Operations at DMP SA for the SADC region, notes that to promote diversity, it was decided that 50-60% of the intake for the internship must be female. From this year’s group, all five young women scored well enough to be placed with DMP SA and two finished top of the class.
“The IT industry is very male dominated across the globe, and we would like to see more female leaders coming through. It’s all about encouraging them to get their foot into IT by growing their skills in a safe space,” says Sayed.
“Women can add a lot of value to the data management space, bringing with them vibrant personalities and a great willingness to learn. As a company that sells services, we’re all about people, so it’s important that we integrate a mix of sound soft skills and technical skills.”
Cela Africa, one of the women who completed this year’s internship, reveals that she never really planned to have a career in IT until she decided to study IT at the end of her matric year in 2019.
Diverse field
“I became curious about how diverse this field was, as I never knew it consisted of so many moving parts. I completed my studies and then secured the internship with DMP SA, and so I’ve found myself in data management. The more I learned about it, the more I was inspired to follow this career path,” Africa says.
Her fellow intern, Lopang Makwala, says she is passionate about being a support engineer because it enables her to help organisations solve their problems.
“So many businesses fail because they do not realise how important it is to keep their data in safe hands. It really makes me happy to see companies that can recover from disasters that have hit their environments because they took the proper steps to keep their data safe,” Makwala says.
Despite entering a highly male-dominated space, none of the interns felt that they have faced any unique challenges due to their gender, with all five stating that their colleagues and mentors have been extremely supportive and encouraging.
Equal treatment
Also part of the internship, Nokukhanya Ndlovu and Faith Themba are looking forward to forging careers in the data management field.
“I see this as a good opportunity to learn and acquire the skills required in the industry and use them to grow as an individual. Hopefully, more women will be inspired to pursue a career in this industry,” says Ndlovu.
Themba adds: “I do not think my role is differentiated by my gender. It is the same for males and females. Any challenges we face are related to work and are the same for everyone. I see my role as that of an engineer, not as a woman doing a specific job.”
All five women feel that women who want to pursue a career in data management should not be discouraged by the perception that the industry is male dominated, and they should follow their dreams with confidence.
“Women must believe in themselves and not allow people to discourage them. The best advice I have is that it is fine not knowing everything, so long as you familiarise yourself with technology by doing research and continue learning new skills,” concludes Maremeke Mogotlane.