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

Joana insists the burden of systemic change shouldn't fall on women leaning in. Discover how leaders can build equitable tech spaces through intentional representation and proactive allyship.

- **Speakers:** Joana Simoes
- **Event:** WeAreDevelopers LIVE
- **Published:** March 13, 2024
- **Duration:** 58:44
- **URL:** https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/867-from-developer-to-instructor-and-devrel-navigating-roles-as-as-a-woman-in-the-tech-industry

## Summary

Joana shares her journey working at the intersection of geospatial engineering and data science, moving from early "pure tech" roles to leadership and Developer Relations (DevRel). In her early career, she experienced the isolation of being the only woman on engineering teams, grappling with the necessity to repeatedly prove her technical competence and struggling with a lack of visibility. This environment often led to job-hopping for advancement, emphasizing that the burden of systemic change—commonly framed as a lack of "leaning in"—should not fall solely on women, but rather be solved through allyship and inclusive leadership.\n\nMoving into mixed roles that blended technical skills with education and community building, Joana highlighted the power of specialized coding schools for women and non-binary individuals to foster psychologically safe, non-competitive learning environments. As she transitioned into DevRel at the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), she found that integrating developers with open-source geospatial standards required deliberate community outreach. Even in highly supportive, meritocracy-driven open-source communities like OSGeo, female committers and maintainers remain scarce, demanding proactive recruitment solutions.\n\nTo make the software industry more equitable, managers and conference organizers must pursue intentional representation—sometimes through positive discrimination, which simply means making a stronger effort to find diverse talent without lowering standards. Providing flexible participation formats, offering travel grants for community code sprints, and amplifying women in workshops are actionable ways leaders can change the culture. For developers entering the industry, the most critical career advice is to meticulously vet the overall quality and supportiveness of a prospective team, remembering that the candidate is interviewing the company as much as the company is interviewing them.

**Keywords:** developer relations, geospatial technology, open source maintainers, imposter syndrome, workplace allyship, inclusive leadership, coding bootcamps, developer advocacy, developer community building, community code sprints, tech conference representation, psychological safety in tech, vetting engineering teams, diversity and inclusion, software development standards

## Chapters

1. **Introduction to technical background and geospatial roles** (00:02) — Transitioning through data science and geographical information systems builds a strong technical foundation for active open source advocacy.
1. **Navigating gender dynamics and career progression in tech** (04:13) — Women often face a higher burden of proof and must frequently switch organizations to secure leadership roles.
1. **The impact of reduced visibility and misplaced credit** (11:01) — A lack of workplace visibility can result in completed complex technical projects being credited to non-technical peers.
1. **Critiquing lean-in culture and requiring structural support** (17:42) — Systemic change and female leadership are more effective than placing the burden of assertiveness solely on marginalized employees.
1. **Transitioning to mixed roles and fostering inclusive education** (23:24) — Moving into technical education roles helps address industry gaps by creating safe learning spaces for underrepresented groups.
1. **Community involvement and the women in tech panel effect** (30:52) — Increasing speaker diversity at general technology conferences helps avoid isolating minorities into dedicated demographic panels.
1. **Driving developer relations and standardizing open source frameworks** (35:07) — Developer relations roles bridge the gap between technical standards and real-world implementation through collaborative industry code sprints.
1. **Addressing the lack of female committers in open source** (44:27) — Despite a broadly supportive culture, open source projects still struggle to attract and retain female technical maintainers.
1. **Q&A on making workplaces inclusive and software career advice** (50:35) — Evaluating job offers for overall team diversity and supportive cultures helps prevent burnout for early-career developers.

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