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Name:
Olga Torstensson

Age:
37

Country:
Sweden

Job:
Lecturer at Halmstad University

Olga Torstensson

Breaking into the World of IT

Under-representation of women in the IT sector appears to be as universal as it is unfortunate. To the extent that even in liberal and progressive Sweden, it remains a male bastion. As in many countries, the government sees inequality of opportunity as a problem that needs to be addressed at a national level and has programs in place to do this.

Governmental, NGO or corporate initiatives – such as those organized and sponsored as part of Cisco Networking Academy – are no use at all, however, without the committed involvement of women, dedicated to break into a male-dominated workplace.

One such woman is Olga Torstensson, aged 37, now a lecturer at the School of Information Science, Computer and Electrical Engineering, Halmstad University, Sweden.

Originally from the Ukraine, Olga gained her MSc in Electrical Engineering, specializing in radio and telecommunications, at the Sevastopol National Technical University.

She arrived in Sweden in 2004. Looking for a job, she came across the Cisco Networking Academy at Halmstad University. As she explains, it focuses specifically on the needs of women wanting to enter the Swedish IT marketplace:

“Sweden is a one of the counties which does a lot to achieve equal rights and opportunities between men and women. The government supports different projects which try to involve a larger number of women in those technical sectors which are currently very much dominated by men.

“One example of such a project was a course at Halmstad University. It was a program for women who are interested in computer networking and want to get an education in this area.”

It was an ideal program for Olga, because: “I have always been interested in networking and was really excited by the idea of studying something new.” Her enthusiasm paid off, and she passed her Instructor courses for CCNA, CCNP and Wireless LAN & IP telephony.

Now Olga teaches at the same university, having successfully faced the twin challenges of being a woman in a new country. She has the following advice for other women seeking to enter IT:

“If you want to get an interesting job you should have a good educational base and be prepared to continue learning, because IT is an area where new technologies and solutions arrive every day.”

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