WeAreDevelopers Logo WeAreDevelopers
Sign in
For You LIVE
WeAreDevelopers LIVE • Apr 18, 2023

KEYNOTE: Hidden Histories

Brenda Romero

Software didn't start out male-dominated; women were the original tech pioneers. Uncover how systemic biases erased this legacy and why reverse-engineering that shift is a strict business necessity.

Pause
Mute Enter Fullscreen
#1 about 3 min

The impact of familiar role models in technology

How frequently referencing the same famous women shapes stereotypes and career choices for the next generation.

#2 about 4 min

Modding board games and early software engineering jobs

Reflections on early game development experiences and leveraging table-top game rules into early coding careers.

#3 about 7 min

Historical origins of women as the first computers

Why programming was initially marketed toward women as menial labor and how cultural shifts changed industry demographics.

#4 about 7 min

Navigating the unicorn anomaly as a woman programmer

The professional frustration of having gender eclipse technical output and the importance of evaluating work rather than identity.

#5 about 4 min

Remembering foundational women pioneers in early computing history

Celebrating the technical architects who developed core computing elements like BASIC, pointers, assembly language, and compiler optimizations.

#6 about 4 min

Consequences of missing diversity in product development decisions

Real-world examples of how omitting marginalized demographics from leadership creates flawed consumer products and biased artificial intelligence models.

#7 about 5 min

Overcoming engineered biases to achieve equal technology representation

Strategies for dismantling societal myths and rethinking technical recruiting campaigns to foster inclusive software engineering teams.

Matching moments

1:39 min

Rewriting the historical narrative of women in technology

Babette Wagner Babette Wagner · Coffee With Developers

8:04 min

Pushing for female representation and leadership in technology

Katja Träumner

4:07 min

Overcoming visibility challenges for women in tech

Teena Idnani · LIVE

3:26 min

Setting the context for female leadership in artificial intelligence

Alexandra Wudel Alexandra Wudel +2 · WWC 2025

4:14 min

Community involvement and the women in tech panel effect

Joana Simoes · LIVE

8:11 min

Confronting prejudices in the gaming and tech industries

Chris Heilmann +2 · LIVE

More from WeAreDevelopers LIVE

Aliens in Quarantine, Python Deprecates Loops, and AI Buys Old Books - Zbyszek Tenerowicz thumbnail
5:43
5 days ago

Aliens in Quarantine, Python Deprecates Loops, and AI Buys Old Books - Zbyszek Tenerowicz

Chris Heilmann, Daniel Cranney

WeAreDevelopers LIVE - Node and Package Security thumbnail
1:08:30
5 days ago

WeAreDevelopers LIVE - Node and Package Security

Chris Heilmann, Daniel Cranney, Zbyszek Tenerowicz

WeAreDevelopers LIVE - Streaming HTML thumbnail
1:10:26
12 days ago

WeAreDevelopers LIVE - Streaming HTML

Chris Heilmann, Daniel Cranney, Jad Joubran

WeAreDevelopers LIVE - CODE100 at WeAreDevelopers Europe thumbnail
1:02:34
19 days ago

WeAreDevelopers LIVE - CODE100 at WeAreDevelopers Europe

Chris Heilmann, Daniel Cranney, Justin Halsall, Werner Jeschko, Nicole Jeschko, Mirco Tomić

WeAreDevelopers LIVE - Web Performance in an AI World thumbnail
1:07:59
26 days ago

WeAreDevelopers LIVE - Web Performance in an AI World

Chris Heilmann, Daniel Cranney

FIFA Hack, Midjourney Does Ultrasounds, and Trampoline Traffic Lights - Nicole Jeschko and Werner Jeschko thumbnail
5:55
about 2 months ago

FIFA Hack, Midjourney Does Ultrasounds, and Trampoline Traffic Lights - Nicole Jeschko and Werner Jeschko

Chris Heilmann, Daniel Cranney

Upcoming sessions on this topic

Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

The Broken Rung: How AI is Rebuilding Software Development from the Ground Up

Tomislav Tipurić

Chief Technology Officer, Nephos

Tomislav Tipurić
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

When Humans Stop Writing Code: Rethinking Languages, Compilers, and Responsibility

Simon Auer

Organizer of flutter vienna meetup and CEO of marqably

Simon Auer
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

Vibe Coding Accessibility

Karl Groves

Focused on actively fixing accessibility

Karl Groves
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

Honey, look! I vibe-coded an OS!

Ian Smith

CTO, LYOS

Ian Smith
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

Engineering the Pivot: How Creative Strategy Solves the Hard Problems of AI Accuracy and Scale

Shruti Tiwari

AI/ML product manager, Dell

Shruti Tiwari
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

Beyond the Code: Human-AI Synergies in Product Development

Ajita Kanchivakam Ananth

Staff Technical Program Manager at Google

Ajita Kanchivakam Ananth

Related videos

Putting People at the Center: Women in Tech and the Future of Work thumbnail
35:52
Cappuccino with HR • 9 months ago

Putting People at the Center: Women in Tech and the Future of Work

Rudi Bauer, Christine Regitz

Breaking the bias in Tech thumbnail
21:13
WWC 2023 • almost 3 years ago

Breaking the bias in Tech

Anna John

Why Eastern Europe Has More Women Developers — and What the West Can Learn thumbnail
32:50
Europe 2026 Virtual • about 1 month ago

Why Eastern Europe Has More Women Developers — and What the West Can Learn

Adela Georgescu

From developer to instructor and DevRel: navigating roles as as a woman in the tech industry thumbnail
58:44
LIVE • over 2 years ago

From developer to instructor and DevRel: navigating roles as as a woman in the tech industry

Joana Simoes

Behind the Code: How Women Are Powering the Future of AI thumbnail
30:28
WWC 2025 • 12 months ago

Behind the Code: How Women Are Powering the Future of AI

Alexandra Wudel, Laura Moritz, Madalina Florean

Coffee with Developers - Babette Wagner thumbnail
24:23
Coffee With Developers • almost 2 years ago

Coffee with Developers - Babette Wagner

Babette Wagner

Related articles

From learning to earning

Jobs that call for the skills explored in this talk.