There are signs that women are making progress in shrinking the employment gender gap within the tech industry, but there is much more to be done before parity is reached.

A recent report from Deloitte Global’s research arm found there will be 33% overall female representation in workforces among large global technology firms in 2022, a rise of two percentage points over the past three years. One tech executive has her own advice for women considering entry into the field.

“For anyone who wants to get into tech, or even switch careers, there’s just a couple of words of advice that I have: just start,” said Rachel Mushahwar (pictured, center), managing director of the Americas channel and partner sales at Amazon Web Services Inc. “Because sometimes later becomes never. Fuel you passion, be curious, think about new things, and just start.”

Mushahwar spoke with theCUBE industry analyst Lisa Martin at AWS re:Invent, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. She was joined by Charu Kapur (pictured, right), president and chief revenue officer at NTT Data Corp., and Jumi Barnes (pictured, left), managing director of investment banking digital platform engineering at Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, and they discussed opportunities and challenges for women in the tech industry today. (* Disclosure below.)

Driving transformation

For Barnes, the start came with a realization created from her first position working in a non tech environment. She saw firsthand the opportunity that came with technology’s ability to transform industries.

“I landed my first job at a real estate agency, and everything was being done manually on paper,” Barnes said. “Technology can bring transformation anywhere and everywhere. It’s about pursuing your passion and identifying which aspects of technology pique your interest and then diving in.”

The executives noted that women must still do more to build support networks within the organizations in which they work.

“Very often women don’t invest enough in building that support system around them,” Kapur said. “We really need a team of sponsors who come in and support us in the moment, in the business. Give us the informal channel because very often we’re not plugged into the informal channel, so we don’t get those special projects or assignments or even opportunities to prove that we can do the tough task.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of AWS re:Invent:

(* Disclosure: This is an unsponsored editorial segment. However, theCUBE is a paid media partner for AWS re:Invent. Amazon Web Services Inc. and other sponsors of theCUBE’s event coverage have no editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE