Female tech experts tell students, ‘believe in yourself’

Ahead of International Women’s Day, Capital City College hosted a Women in Tech event at their Mosaic@Soho campus.

Organised by the Digitals Skill Academy and run by Digital Influx, the event, International Women’s Day: Empowering Women in Design, Product & AI, featured four guest speakers who are leaders and pioneers in UX design, ethical AI tools, and more.

The speakers were: Alberta Soranzo, VP of Design, Experience and Research at Elsevier; Nimisha Patel, Head of UX Design at Symphony AI; Tara Espinosa, UX Lead at Verity; and Meg Porter, VP of Product at Vault Platform.

To a packed room, the women talked about their experiences, burnout, imposter syndrome, highs and lows in navigating careers and barriers in the tech industries for women. But with these stories came a clear love for the field of technology, and as Alberta put it, “I fell in love with interactions between humans and the machine.”

Nimisha explained that for young women just starting out and thinking about possible careers, they should consider “what skills do I have, and what job would I thrive in? What sorts my nature?”

Meg explained that “know the barriers are only as real as the industry makes them. Connect with communities, there are a lot out there who want to help. Believe in yourself, and find that confidence.”

Tara explained that for many women, starting out means that “to be good means being perfect, if not better,” in a discussion on perfection, standards, potential burnout, and ways of working.

The event was extremely popular with the audience, and we spoke to some of the CCC students attending the evening.

Niamh, a student studying T Level media and broadcast production, said: “The speakers were really good. It’s made me question and think about what opportunities there are for me as a woman, as well as what can I do and how can I push myself.”

Issac, a student studying T Level in media and broadcast production, added: “I thought the event was really lovely. They shared some great insights, and I think especially as a minority, we are really underrepresented. Just to see in a space like this, it being encouraged and fostered is something really wonderful to see. To have the opportunity to be seen and heard, it’s just beautiful. We need more things like that.”

Carl Boyd, Assistant Principal for Mosaic@Soho, said, “It was amazing to have so many people here to celebrate International Women’s Day. The topics discussed were intriguing, and the discussion of the use of AI in tech really caught my attention. Also hearing from each of our panellists who had such strong stories about how they got into tech, and the barriers they faced, was really inspiring.”

Carlo Liu, Head of Academy – Digital, added: “At the Digital Skills Academy, we don’t just celebrate women in tech—we empower them. For this year’s International Women’s Day, we hosted an incredible event dedicated to breaking barriers and creating opportunities. Our mission is that no one should be held back by financial constraints, lack of experience, or self-doubt. We provide free training, mentoring, and support to help women and underrepresented groups thrive in the digital sector.”

Want to dive into the world of media? Have a look at our T Level subjects and see if our Digital Media and Creative Computing courses could be right for you.

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