Women in gaming: just do it

I am going to come straight out with it – I do not believe that there are any additional barriers to women entering the online gambling sector in technology and IT roles than faced by men.

Nor do I believe that online gambling organisations should treat female candidates any differently to male candidates. That would be the opposite of equality.

What I do believe is that women wanting to enter this industry, particularly in tech and IT, need to realise they are just as capable as male candidates and to put themselves forward more than they do at the moment.

Not only are females just as qualified, skilled, passionate and dedicated as their male colleagues, but they also have unique qualities that can help organisations innovate and grow.

For example, it has been proven that women are much better at multitasking than men. And by that I do not mean undertaking two tasks at the same time. Multitasking actually means the ability to seamlessly switch between tasks, understand the issue at hand and find a solution quickly even if other distractions exist.

In addition, women are often meticulous in their approach to and in the deployment of their work. This ensures quality while also pushing the boundaries in search of a new solution.

For example, I go to great lengths to ensure the animations I create are as close to the mock-up as possible. This means my work passes review quickly, saving valuable time.

Low representation

While I do not believe there are any additional barriers to women working in technology and IT roles within the online gambling sector, I do acknowledge the number of women in such roles is low. Last winter I attended a JavaScript conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, and I must admit I was shocked by how few females were in attendance.

On a personal level, I would love to see more women onboarded into tech and IT roles – particularly for programming as it is more aligned with what I do at Push Gaming. But as I have said, I do not believe it is the responsibility of an operator or game developer to employ women just because they are women.

Candidates must be chosen because they are the best, regardless of whether they are male or female. I would therefore argue that not enough women are studying tech and IT in the first place.

For me, I studied economics at university and at no point through my school or higher education career was I encouraged to consider a job in IT or tech.

I took the decision to move into technology thanks to encouragement from my partner and my family. It took me eight months to retrain as a programmer and to find work in the sector.

It is a decision I am glad I took as I have loved working in the technology industry for around two years now, with all my time spent at Push Gaming.

For women thinking about a career in IT or technology, I would say this – go for it and you will not regret it one bit. Sure, it can be tough sometimes and I have learned to be patient, whether that is relating to a long-term career goal or a small task that needs completing quickly. But that is all part of what makes IT and tech such rewarding sectors to work in.

Olenka Lysak is a game developer at Push Gaming and has been with the company for around two years, having previously studied Economics at University.