Telling our stories – Maja Linder
Each year, we have the privilege of meeting inspiring women through ACM-W events. We invite participants to share their experiences in blog posts, highlighting their journeys, challenges, and achievements.
This month, we feature Maja, who has a bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering and Management from the University of Gothenburg.
In this blog post, she shares her career pivot from medical secretary to software engineering and breaking barriers in tech.
1. A Leap into Software Engineering
I’m Maja Linder, 31 years old, from Sweden. I have a bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering and Management from the University of Gothenburg. My interests include video games, board games, languages, cats, bouldering/climbing—and of course, software engineering.
I changed my career path at the age of 28 to study software engineering. In my previous occupation as a medical secretary, I realized that I quickly grasped how the IT systems we used functioned. It was easy for me to picture how everything was connected. I even developed a desire to create and improve these systems myself. In my daily work life, I craved more challenges and decided to try to get into software engineering. I never really pictured myself as a programmer before—I didn’t have any previous experience and wasn’t sure I would like it. But I was wrong!
2. Diversity, Doubts, and Breaking Barriers
One of my concerns before studying software engineering was being surrounded by peers much younger than me and feeling out of place. Another worry I had was that genders other than men would not be well represented. A contributing reason for me to pursue the tech field was to help increase its diversity. Fortunately, my fears didn’t entirely come true.
It turns out many of my classmates were in their thirties, and even forties. There were more women than I had expected—although men were still overrepresented. My point is that, on one hand, the field is changing and it’s perfectly fine to start later in life. On the other hand, there is still work to be done when it comes to diversity.
I imagine I’m not the only one who has these worries before starting something new that, at first glance, might not seem very welcoming. This is why it’s so important to spread knowledge and inspiration and to encourage people—something womENcourage is doing a great job with. I believe it’s especially important to have diversity within the tech industry since it influences society so much. It’s vital that people from different backgrounds get to have their ideas represented in such an important field.
3. Combining Passion with Tech
I recently acquired a job as a system developer in healthcare—more specifically, developing dentistry systems. This opportunity was perfect for me. I’m excited to contribute to the advancement of healthcare systems, which was my goal from the start. Now I’m the one creating the IT systems I once used.
I hope my journey will inspire others to take a leap into the unknown and join the vast world of IT.