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20th September 2019
09:29pm BST
"It’s lonely if you are the only person like you," Furkan tells Her of her early experiences as a woman in Irish tech. "Add your minority into the equation, and there are even fewer people."Furkan didn't know whether she would be able to advance when she didn't see anyone like her in senior roles, she says.
"Everyone wants to get to the next step but will you be accepted?"[caption id="attachment_482025" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
Furkan shares her story at a recent event.[/caption]
It's no secret that tech has a diversity problem. Just 20 per cent of the Irish tech workforce is made up of women, Furkan tells us. The percentage of high-level jobs held by women is far smaller. It's something that plagues the industry worldwide – but that didn't mean Furkan was simply going to sit back and accept it.
In 2018 she established Diverse In, a global D&I platform. The organisation offers consulting, workshops and events to help companies build inclusive workplaces.
Just over a year into the business she now has 20 team members across five countries, each with an expertise in areas ranging from LGBT and gender equality to disabilities and ethnic diversity.
"If you’re not hopeful for the future you will never achieve change. "Personally, I’m a positive person and believe bringing positive people, high energy people together makes things much, much easier."But how willing are companies to change? Understanding around D&I has increased in the past few years, Furkan says, and there is genuine interest in improving things but action doesn't happen overnight.
"It will take a bit more time to see the real changes. "I always tell people I’m building a foundation for a house. I don’t know if my generation will be able to live in the house or my kids' generation, but I’m building the house anyway."The best thing a company can do to foster change, she adds, is to simply create an open and safe environment so staff can speak about the issue and share their thoughts on tackling it. It's important to listen and let them direct the conversation; "that will lead you," she says.
Furkan is committed to making a difference and her efforts haven't gone unnoticed. She won the Trailblazer Award at the Dublin Tech Summit's Women In Tech awards last year.
Not expecting to win, she attended the event to meet other women and make connections. She was taking a video on her phone as her category was being announced and was shocked to hear her name being called out.
"I didn’t know what to do, my friend had to tell me to go up," she says. "I have the video now and it’s funny to watch. It’s been great, great publicity for me and my business but more so it was a very meaningful category for me. I always wanted to be a trailblazer by promoting diversity so it meant a lot."
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