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Ritu Thareja: Inspiring Women To Break Stereotypes And Build An Outstanding Career In Tech
Ritu Thareja is known for her role as the Women Vice President at Fiserv (multinational fintech company). Throughout her career, she led several software development teams, most of which were all-male teams. Looking up to her as a role model, she inspires women to not have a fear of entering the industry of tech.
From Passion To Profession
Ritu Thareja always had an interest in computers since her school days. In her free time, she taught herself codes and algorithms. She possessed a childhood curiosity for programming, so took the path to pursue Electrical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College. After her studies, she went on to turn her passion into a career.
Challenged Stereotypes
There's no such rule that the tech industry is meant for males only. Still, very few women dream about taking tech-related jobs. But fortunately, in modern times this thought has changed.
In Ritu's time, things were not so simple. Her parents came from small villages in Haryana and Rajasthan where most girl children didn't get a proper education. The society around them at that time thought differently about girls studying. Engineering was seen as a course that boys studied.
Her parents chose to ignore such stereotypes. They only focused on Ritu's capability to study and not her gender.
Ritu herself was a hard-working student with a good academic record. She scored well in maths and subjects that require logical reasoning. That's why even though her family had financial difficulties, they sold an asset to give Ritu a proper education.
With financial support from her parents, Ritu was motivated and gave no attention to stereotypes. After her studies, she made a career in tech and supported her family.
Doing Her Part To Keep Women In Tech
Ritu discovered that the tech industry favours males. Even then, she emerged successful in this field. She worked for clients from Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin American markets! Many software teams also worked under her.
Her journey to Fiserv encourages other women to follow in her footsteps. To provide support to women in tech, she also became a member of women empowerment groups.
During her time, there wasn't much support for women. Today, there's plenty of support for women willing to try a new field of work, so why not try?
In present times, several free online courses help stay-at-home mothers who wish to work and young women graduates discover new types of industries to work in.
Courses help one understand if they have a passion for those new subjects. If you're not sure you'll like an industry, there are exciting internships to try. There are plenty of resources available online to help women build their careers. With courage, women are also trying nontraditional industries like science or tech just like Ritu and finding success. Careers indeed have no gender, so let's break that stereotype!