The month of March every year is used to celebrate the important contributions that women have made throughout history but despite all the leaps and bounds women have made the female workforce is still greatly underappreciated in the tech industry.  

Here at ITEC we celebrate women all year round but as part of women’s history month, we sat down Basingstoke ITEC’s IT Trainer and Assessor, Jumoke Kiladejo to learn more about her journey and what motivated her to get into the tech industry.  

Jumoke is the leading IT Trainer at Basingstoke ITEC and is responsible for the delivery of several Level 3 & 4 IT Apprenticeship Standards including Infrastructure Technician, Digital Support Technician, Information Communications Technician, IT Sales and IS Business Analyst. Not only has she positively impacted the tech industry with her previous work in IT she is now shaping the future of the tech industry as a trainer. We think she is smashing it! 

We asked Jumoke a handful of questions about her inspirations and challenges and here is what she had to tell us: 

What woman/women in tech inspire you? 

The woman that inspires me is Katherine Johnson of the NASA Space project. (Katherine Johnson was one of the first Black women to work as a NASA Scientist, she figured out the paths for the spacecraft to orbit (go around) Earth and to land on the Moon and later this formula helped send astronauts to the moon and back!  

Although Katherine inspires me, I am also inspired by all women I have encountered working in the tech industry and who take the leading roles on big IT projects. 

“I am inspired by all women I have encountered working in the tech industry”

– Jumoke Kiladejo

Have you faced any challenges as a woman in the tech industry? 

Earlier on in my career, IT was a male-dominated environment there was a clear gender bias within the industry. It seemed that combining a career in IT with trying to start a family did not go hand in hand. 

During my time as a teacher, the class enrolment registers were predominantly made up of male students, so I felt extraordinary pride when seeing female names on the register. There were often campaigns run to try and encourage more woman to get into the tech industry.  

Are you aware of women’s history month. Does it mean anything to you if so, why? 

I am not aware of it in too much detail but believe it to be a wonderful time to spotlight the achievements and challenges faced by women in all different walks of life. 

Thank you for talking with us, Jumoke! 

It is so important that we not only uplift and celebrate the achievements of women but that we also acknowledge the challenges they have faced.