For Fatima Eblish and Magda Gozdalik, engineering wasn’t really a serious option when they were at school. It was something boys did. Engineering of any kind was assumed to be off the table.
Thanks to a keen careers advisor and a revelation during lockdown, both women now have successful careers as software engineers. They both support global engineering consultancy Penspen to improve access to secure and sustainable energy infrastructure through their roles in the company’s digital arm – THEIA.
On International Women In Engineering Day, we talk to Fatima and Magda about how data is transforming how engineers work, the personal qualities required for a role in software development, and why their careers are right at the heart of engineering intelligence.
Can you tell us about your role and your route into software engineering?
Fatima: Officially, my job title is Software Engineer, although my role is primarily focused on front-end development. I graduated university with a Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering, earning First Class honours.
Whilst I was at university, I completed a placement year between my second and third years, working as a Solutions Architect and Software Tester. This gave me good exposure to the software development cycle. After graduating, I joined Penspen as a Software Tester.
Magda: I’m a Software Developer and I like working across full stack. I’m working currently in front end as a Front-End Developer. My path to software development was slightly different. I majored in tourism and recreation, and until COVID, I was working in the travel industry as a product manager. I was living in South Africa, in Geneva, and then in the UK. When Covid hit, I realised how burnt out I was. I was ready for something new. Lockdown gave me the opportunity to do that. My partner works in software development too, and during lockdown, I would hear him talking a lot about the products they develop and it really piqued my interest.
I decided to undertake my Scrum Master certification while we were stuck at home during lockdown, and people said “oh, if you want to be great Scrum Master, you need to know how to code.” So, I started doing online workshops through a website, SheCodes. After creating my first application, I was kind of amazed. I thought “I did it! It looks good, it works, and I loved making it.” I was hooked and kept developing my skills from there through various courses.
Was engineering ever something you saw yourself doing?
Fatima: When I was in school, software engineering was never really an option because it wasn’t on my radar. I attended an all-girls high school, and we did have a focus on STEM subjects, but it was mostly science and medicine. There wasn’t much exploration of technology and engineering, so I had no idea these career options were possible.
I was lucky that my career advisor mentioned software engineering, just before my GCSEs. She told me it was a great opportunity and an industry with so much potential. I’m quite creative, and she explained that would work because I could work on both design and development.
Magda: It wasn’t an option for me at all. My parents were farmers in Poland, and even they had had a stereotype that girls either became a teacher or maybe a doctor, but there were very limited paths. I love to listen to podcasts now and learning new things, and I think if I’d had access to all of the information that is out there now, at a younger age I might have considered engineering. I’ve always loved making things, improving things, so I think I had an engineer’s mind set – I just didn’t see it as a career.
What does your job involve?
Fatima: No two days are exactly the same, which is one of the things I really enjoy about the role. Depending on what I’m working on, I might be developing new features, fixing bugs, or reviewing code. It can also involve creating designs and concepts. Right now, I’d say it’s about 70% coding and 30% everything else.
Magda: We are a global team, so we have a daily stand up to check in on progress, see if anyone needs help or anything. Then I could be working on new features, reviewing other developer’s code, testing changes. We work closely with the backend team to and the engineers who use our software day to day to see how we can continue to optimise it
You both work for THEIA, Penspen’s digital integrity management platform. What do you find exciting about your role and how it is improving how integrity engineers work?
Fatima: For me, I think one of THEIA’s biggest strengths is the data visualisation. Clients or our engineers upload their reports in Excel, and THEIA can easily create assessments and reports in minutes. Previously, wading through that data to create comprehensive reports could have taken weeks or even months.
Now, thanks to THEIA, they can actually visualise the pipeline on the map alongside the associated data. I can’t imagine how they used to visualise all of this previously using spreadsheets and documents. Our work helps engineers work more efficiently. By letting the software do all the heavy lifting, engineers can focus on engineering tasks rather than administrative ones.
Magda: It’s impressive that we can now take thousands and thousands of rows of data and apply code that can quickly and effectively transform that data into an easily understandable visual, whether that’s a chart or table or map. It is transformative to how engineers work.
Even now if a client wants to tweak a particular calculation or gives us a new challenge, I get extremely excited that I can solve that problem for them. Our work in software engineering has a direct impact on the data they then use to make operational decisions – I’m proud of that.
What are some common misconceptions about software engineering?
Fatima: I think one of the biggest misconceptions about software engineering is that it’s a solitary job. I think people imagine software engineers are always alone, coding all day by themselves. But it’s a very collaborative role. You’re working with developers, testers, designers, project managers, and others to build the right solution for your clients.
Magda: Before I joined software development, in my mind a developer was just sitting in front of the laptop for the whole day and coding, coding, coding, which is absolutely not true.
In my experience, through my work at Penspen and at workshops, software development people, they are the most collaborative, creative, open-minded people ever.
Artificial intelligence is transforming the way we work. How has it impacted your role?
Magda: Software development has always evolved quickly, but AI has accelerated that transformation. The pace of change is rapid and we are learning constantly. That said, I’m glad I joined the industry before AI fully bloomed – it meant I could spend time on actually digging into concepts, problems, issues, and trying to understand deeper how the whole development lifecycle works. It is undoubtedly creating efficiencies, even within THEIA where we’ve integrated AI modules to support decision-making, but like any other engineering discipline having that base knowledge is still critical.
What qualities make a good software engineer?
Magda: Curiosity, communication, and collaboration. I think it’s important to be open to other people’s points of view. We improve by constantly pushing ourselves and trying new things so you have to be open to other people’s suggestions.
Fatima: If you’re inquisitive and like to solve problems, then I definitely think engineering is a very good career option, no matter which discipline.
What would you say to someone considering a career in software engineering?
Fatima: I would encourage them to keep an open mind and not be afraid to explore different opportunities. Even when I was at university, I still didn’t know what career I wanted to pursue. I knew I had software engineering as a base, but then from then on, there were so many jobs I could get into. I even considered video game design at one point.
It’s okay not to have everything figured out right away.
Magda: Don’t be afraid to not know everything at the beginning. Explore, try different things. And, most of all, keep an open mind. I only I wish I did the switch earlier.
How can we encourage more women into industry?
Fatima: I think it starts with early exposure. Organisations can definitely make a big difference if they engage with schools and introduce young girls to the variety of careers that are available, so they know “Oh, I could actually go into this in the future”. In my course at university there were only four girls out of a class of 65 – I hope we can change that ratio.
The world is your oyster, so I think it’s very important to let girls know engineering careers are out there – take your pick.
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