It’s International Women’s Day 2022 and here at Avantio we’re celebrating by exploring what the Women In Tech initiative means to our company. Join us as we learn more about the women who make up our team, and their experiences of working in the Tech industry.
What is ‘Women in Tech’?
The push to actively include more girls and women within the STEM fields has come to the fore in the last decade, corresponding with the emergence of several other global initiatives for female equality. The concept of Women in Tech arose from the realization that only one in five Tech industry employees is female, and that the tech industry has had one of the highest pay gaps.
With the global growth of the Tech industry, there was concern that women will be left behind. Women in Tech now applies to several non-profits internationally, with aligned objectives to add more women to the sector as equal players. There’s even an annual Women in Tech festival!
This year, the International Women’s Day official theme is #BreakTheBias, which seems the perfect moment to celebrate how, here at Avantio, we’re striving each year to break the bias and include more Women in Tech.
Women in Tech at Avantio
Here at Avantio, it’s not only our software that’s forward-thinking – we’re working hard to bridge the gap between how different genders experience the workplace. The measures outlined in our Equality Plan explore not only the theme of the gender pay gap, but also traditionally gendered job roles, how women are recruited and promoted, parental leave and flexibility, and creating an equal work environment.
To ensure equal opportunities at the recruitment stage, our process follows strict equality standards, and no one is hired or rejected for any reason other than professional requirements. We never ask for information relating to gender, marital status, parental status, or future plans, as these can cause hiring bias.
Avantio Women in Tech Stats
As of International Women’s Day 2022:
- 43% of Avantio employees are female
- 22 of the 26 new recruits in the last year were women
- 50% of our management team are women
Meet the Women in Tech
As a celebration of our valued team members, and an exploration of what it’s like to be a Woman in Tech at Avantio, we caught up with five of our team members, as voted by Avantio employees, to share their thoughts.
Ambra Meloni
Implementation Specialist – 3 years at Avantio
Nominated by coworkers for curiosity, enthusiasm for learning, and top problem solving.
What does the global Woman in Tech initiative mean to you?
Women in Tech is a very important movement and I think it helps empower women, which is in everyone’s interests.
What was your journey into working in tech?
I started working in tech in Avantio 3 years ago. I’m an Implementation specialist-consultant working with Italian and Spanish markets. In this role I guide and assist our clients with the configuration of the VRMS. A year ago I had the opportunity to accept a new challenge and a new role – Avantio Payments super user. I’m the link between clients, our tech team and payments gateway… I really enjoy solving problems!
How do you feel about the future for Women in Tech at Avantio?
It’s important to be part of a group of females that can support and share their experiences, I hope that we could grow and become much more!
What’s your message to young women starting a career in tech?
Just follow your curiosity, with perseverance you can do whatever you want!
Ana Torres
Product Designer – One year at Avantio
Nominated by coworkers for innovative thinking, professionalism, and solution-oriented approach.
What does the global Woman in Tech initiative mean to you?
It means equality in the work environment, in a sector where the vast majority are men. It means demonstrating that women can also do this work, breaking down any gender bias that may arise in the teams.
What was your journey into working in tech?
When I was a child, I never considered having a career in tech. I studied ADE and started working in a bank (in a traditional office).
After the 2008 crisis, many of my classmates went to other countries in Europe to learn languages and work, and some of them started working in tech. They told me about their experiences and learnings and I started to get more and more interested in the tech world. I started to read about companies, projects and entrepreneurs, to study and to be more up to date.
After a few months, I decided to look for a job in a tech company in Berlin, where everything was based on data, automation, visibility, sharing and collaboration. I was fascinated and realized that tech companies were my place.
How do you feel about the future for Women in Tech at Avantio?
I feel positive about the future at Avantio, although the gap between men and women is still very large, little by little we are proving that the tech world is not just a man’s world.
What’s your message to young women starting a career in tech?
You can be anything you want to be. Be confident in your abilities, work as a team, do your job well and don’t hesitate to speak your mind. Above all, push yourself out of your comfort zone to learn the most.
Rebeca Jorge
People and Talent Manager – 2 years at Avantio
Nominated by coworkers for her ability to convey confidence and professionalism and adapt to different situations.
What does the global Woman in Tech initiative mean to you?
To me, this initiative means a movement and inspiration, and in some way I feel like I’m part of it. I think women are increasingly encouraged to get into technology. They have stopped thinking that it’s an unknown sector and have started careers in it. Never it’s too late to start a career in tech and there’s a trend of professional retraining in this sector. I’ve attended a lot of talks from referential women and I’m aware that there are so many good schools and bootcamps whose goal is to strengthen the Tech area with female talent.
What was your journey into working in tech?
The Tech sector is growing fast and therefore so are the teams. Not only in terms of finding people, but also empowering people to develop their talent. Each conversation with a developer is a masterclass for me, I’m always open to listen carefully and ask everything I don’t know. That’s why my journey is based on a continuous learning about technology.
How do you feel about the future for Women in Tech at Avantio?
I’m optimistic about this, we have very talented women in this area at Avantio playing important roles that directly impact our products.
What’s your message to young women starting a career in tech?
Don’t be afraid of the challenges and take them as an opportunity to test yourself. You won’t know how far you can go if you don’t try it, even if you fail.
Sheila Montes
Digital Marketing Manager – 1 year at Avantio
Nominated by coworkers for being solution-oriented, communicative energy, and thinking outside the box.
What does the global Woman in Tech initiative mean to you?
#WomenInTech appears to be a movement promoted by and for women in the technology sector. Training in technology areas has historically been dominated by men, which means that in some cases the percentage of male employees in a SaaS company is three times higher than that of women. In this regard, it is difficult for women in the SaaS sector to reach leadership positions in IT or digital product departments. That is why the #WomenInTech initiative promotes the scalable projection of women in the Tech sector.
What was your journey into working in tech?
I have been working in digital marketing for 5 years and Avantio is the first SaaS project I have on my resume. The creation of digital products is now, we are no longer talking about the future, we are talking about the present. The proliferation of tech start-ups as well as the robustness of large technology companies means that there are more and more job offers in this area. Avantio is a company with a lot of potential and opportunities for departmental and interdepartmental growth; they have a great commitment to talent retention and that has an impact on a very good working environment.
How do you feel about the future for Women in Tech at Avantio?
The #WomenInTech initiative is a movement to be promoted among all the women in the group. There is no one responsible for “mobilizing” the rest. I believe that each one of us, from our personal and professional vision and concerns, should make proposals and share information of interest as well as courses, presentations, activities… Training and visibility is what will gradually lead to more and more women in leadership positions in the Tech sectors.
What’s your message to young women starting a career in tech?
For the new generations it is much easier to join the ‘tech-mind’. They are the tech generation, they were born with it and have been educated with it. As time goes by, there will be less and less difference between the percentage of men and women working for technology companies. My message to them is “go for it, ladies”.
Valentina Rigo
Customer Care Specialist – 4 years at Avantio
Nominated by coworkers for 110% dedication, positive attitude and rapid problem solving.
What does the global Woman in Tech initiative mean to you?
I think that this initiative represents an occasion to support, inspire and be inspired by women on an international level and to celebrate our potential, achievements and successes in the Tech area. I believe that sometimes it is very important to stop, look back and be proud of all Women in Tech and how far we have come.
What was your journey into working in tech?
I began at Avantio almost 4 years ago and it was in Avantio that I started working in Tech and where I really began to discover the fascinating world of technology. I am part of the Customer Care team, working in the Italian Market and last year I assumed new responsibilities and decided to take on a new role as “super user” for the online booking area and Check-in Online and Guest Area functionalities.
This new challenge allows me to improve my knowledge in technology, to learn a whole new set of skills and processes, and to be the “bridge” between the clients and the tech team.I think that one of the most important aspects in this sector is to find the right balance between the clients’ points of view and feedback. and the tech team’s various projects and developments. I am continually learning new things and I love sharing that with people.
How do you feel about the future for Women in Tech at Avantio?
I feel optimistic. Our company, Avantio, knows that we need women’s perspectives, skills, curiosity and ideas to design a more equal future. Women and girls can make a difference not just for themselves, but for every woman and girl whose life can be changed by their contributions and for all of society, too. I also think that it would be great to do more workshops, meetings, etc with inspirational women from the Tech sector.
What’s your message to young women starting a career in tech?
Technology is always changing and evolving and this gives you the opportunity to continue to learn and train new tasks and challenges, so don’t be afraid to ask and demand more. Instead of saying “I wish”, or “I should have” or “I was afraid”, start by saying “I have the ability”, “I am valuable” and “I am doing this now”. and remember that if you don’t put your ideas out in the world, no one else can benefit from them.
Avantio leading the way
Here at Avantio, we’re proud to be progressive and always seeking ways to improve. This is reflected across the company – from our dynamic team to our always evolving products.
To discover more about the cutting edge work that we do here at Avantio to support vacation rental companies, get in touch with us today.
