My guest today is Ruchira Pokhriyal, a cloud security expert from India. An advocate for diversity and inclusion, Ruchira speaks for the visibility of LGBTQ people in tech.
Key points:
- Ruchira explains how some misconceptions like "tech is not meant for women” are the major causes of the underrepresentation of women. She advocates that women should be encouraged and enlightened enough to get their hands in the cyber security space. We should be allowed to speak about the bias without fear of losing our jobs [3.40-9.21].
- Ruchira shares the backstory of her career: how she never envisioned a career in tech. Hers is one of the rare cases where the career choice a parent makes for their child becomes the better choice [11.45-14.20].
- Ruchira mentions some free resources and activities that helped her when she was a student, as she didn’t have the luxury of buying courses. [17.12-21.05].
- Ruchira dives into her challenges in the industry, the big wins, and the organizations that helped her find a balance [22.42-26.49].
- Ruchira suggests that employers invest in training that enlightens employees in the area of diversity and inclusion. She also mentions the roles of educational institutions and other professional bodies [29.18-31.10].
- I and Ruchira discuss the importance of mentorship with practical offers tips on how to approach a prospective mentor [34.45-43.05].
- Ruchira and I round up the conversation with some advice for entry-level women in the industry [43.44-46.31].
Press play to listen to the conversation.
