The Femmegineering initiative will create job opportunities for women in Europe
Swedish-Ukrainian IT company Sigma Software Group is scaling up their Femmegineering initiative to build a female tech community across emerging European tech markets. The organizers will launch educational events, and provide free access to IT courses at Sigma Software University and mentorships by industry leaders to female refugees and local women in Europe.
The project originally was founded by Sigma Group in Sweden and was held as a one-year initiative by the Expect a Better Tomorrow foundation. Femmegineering’s main goal was to contribute to a more equal tech- and engineering industry.
A New Beginning
The unprovoked russian aggression has forced more than 7 million Ukrainians (mostly women and children) to leave their homes and start new lives abroad. At the same time, around 8,500 IT specialists (mostly men) were drafted into the army or volunteered for territorial defense forces. This situation has pushed many Ukrainian female migrants into quickly learning new professions that allow them to work remotely.
My life changed dramatically for the better when I switched my career to the tech industry. I have many more opportunities for self-development and growth, have met many talented people, and have become more flexible and creative. Unfortunately due to the biases in our society, women are often told that IT is not a career area for them. But that’s not true. Our goal with Femmengineering is to break stereotypes, show real ways of building a career in tech for women, and help them become independent financially, – said Alexandra Govorukha, Head of International PR at Sigma Software Group and Femmegineering leader.
The company has already held two practical meetups in Warsaw and Sofia, opened internship and IT courses, and published inspirational stories of women who have managed great careers in IT. The next meetup will be held on September 22 in Krakow in which speakers from leading IT companies will share their inspirational stories and tech experience in software development.
Join the meetup and check our career opportunities here.
- Come Back Alive is one of the largest charitable foundations that supports Ukrainian soldiers, founded by the IT specialist Vitaliy Deynega. The organization collected more than 210 million UAH (more than $7M) in 2014. According to Na chasi, the Patreon page Come Back Alive is in the top ten projects by the number of financial donations.
- MacPaw Development Fund
- Army SOS, which develops drones;
- Everybody Can, an organization that supports internally displaced people;
- Help on the Ministry of Defense website.