TMT Insights Celebrates Our Women Engineers
Women in Engineering Day celebrated it’s 11th year this month. To honor this day, we at TMT Insights wanted to spotlight and recognize the contributions of our Senior Frontend Developer, Jenna Palmer and our Frontend UI/UX Development Manager, Tanya Gamarian by hearing their thoughts on being a female in this industry.
Balancing Innovation with Practicality
“We can get caught up in the innovation side a lot,” said Jenna Palmer. “As I’ve grown, I’ve realized that innovation often arises out of necessity, and bringing a fundamental product to market is okay. It doesn’t need to have all the bells and whistles. There will inevitably be failures when something is new, but solving a problem simply is crucial. Simplicity ensures the product is easy to update, reliable, and proven. Customers appreciate this reliability, allowing for integrating new features released over time.”
Characteristics for Success
Tanya Gamarian noted several unique challenges that developers and designers need to address to create effective user experiences. “We’re keenly focused on accessibility and ensuring people with disabilities have a good experience and can use the interface effectively. Understanding and incorporating user needs and behaviors in the design process is critical and challenging, especially with so many browsers and devices, each interpreting the code slightly differently.”
Mentoring The Next Gen of Engineers
“I’ve known other women engineers who have struggled to stay in the industry, often feeling like they must stick it out of spite. We refuse to be part of the 70% who quit after five years. There’s a camaraderie among us who are determined to persevere together. I ask them to keep going and find their community and people – through community, I’ve been able to maintain my confidence and carve out a successful career in engineering,” adds Jenna Palmer.
Tanya Gamarian added: “Certain challenges are unique to being a woman in this industry. To address these, I joined several communities and strive to be available for those just starting out or needing help. Through my role at TMT, I engage in mentorship and peer programming. We learn from each other, and I’ve seen tremendous value in this approach. Sharing ideas and observing how someone else thinks through a problem has been incredibly helpful.”
TMT hopes to continue raising awareness about the achievements of women in engineering and encourage more girls and young women to consider engineering as a career and ultimately aim to create a more balanced and representative workforce in the media and technology industry.