Meet Hannah Beder - Computer Scientist and 2020 NSW Young Woman of the Year

GUEST BLOG BY HANNAH BEDER

ABOUT HANNAH
An accomplished computer scientist and 2020 NSW Young Woman of the Year, Hannah Beder is passionate about addressing the gender disparity in STEM by mentoring other young women in the technology industry.

Hannah’s visibility and professional success help to combat the notion that 'you can't be what you can't see'. She currently works as a Creative Technologist with Creatable, holds teaching positions with UNSW, Code Like A Girl and MoneyGirl, and through her phenomenal work empowers scores of other young women in the technology industry to exist safely, envision bright futures and succeed.

From school to study choices to real-world skill-building.

“When I was younger I had several creative hobbies and a seemingly disparate set of skills. At school my subjects were equally divided with music and languages on one side, and maths and physics on the other. It was a pretty tricky set of hobbies to distill into one pathway, but I knew that I enjoyed problem-solving so engineering seemed like a good place to start!

I came to uni completely new to the field of engineering, never having programmed before. But when it came to technical skills I arrived with nothing and left with everything. I explored subjects ranging from data structures and algorithms to databases, concurrency to human-computer interaction, web application development to data compression and search. I was even able to take some music subjects within my Computer Science degree, too!

I was also given the opportunity to be an academic tutor and lab demonstrator. This role consolidated my technical knowledge while building my skills in empathy, education, and communication. The reality is that as a software engineer, both technical skills and interpersonal skills are necessary in the workplace, so I’m grateful to have learned those human skills while studying, too. 

How to find your people and unlock your passions.

What I love about my career in technology is the community. The most valuable thing I took away from my time studying was the support of my peers and teachers. Particularly, my thesis supervisor Dr Nadine Marcus was instrumental in guiding me through my Honours and encouraging me to apply for the UNSW CSE Anita Borg Award, which I received in 2017.

This recognition for and encouragement of my work promoting women in STEM was incredibly humbling. It pushed me to continue my pursuits in this field and to be open and upfront about where my passions lie.

Passion is contagious! The communities around me have been incredibly supportive, and the award in 2017 provided a stepping stone to be awarded 2019 ‘Young Urban Inspirational Woman of the Year’ by Rotary Darling Harbour and 2020 ‘NSW Young Woman of the Year’ by the NSW Government. 

Tech career pathways from Google to Creatable.

My career has also taken me to many places. I’ve enjoyed Software Engineering internships with Google in both Sydney and Seattle, I’ve worked at a small AI start-up and more recently at Macquarie Bank.

I’ve also continued teaching programming to young people at UNSW and beyond, with entities like Girls’ Programming Network and Code Like A Girl. I currently work as a Creative Technologist with Creatable, a creative technology program that ignites a passion for creativity expressed through technology and prepares young women for the future of work.

And remember, everything is learnable!

The most interesting things happen at the intersections of different disciplines and industries, and sitting in that overlap is one of the best parts of my profession. Without a guiding purpose, programming can seem a lot harder than it truly is.

The real power lies in its ability to bring ideas to life and solve real-world problems. Framing programming and other STEM skills in this way also makes it feel far more accessible to women and other minorities who may not recognise their aptitude within the realm of STEM.

For any young women considering a career in technology, please know that you already have everything within you that you need to succeed. Everything is learnable. Finding friends and learning new things together can make the task seem less daunting. And just remember - it’s meant to be fun!