Technology for the sake of solving a problem or a purpose is what appeals to women, and that's key to bringing women into the comms industry, says Gargi Keeling of VMWare.

Elizabeth Miller Coyne, Managing Editor

February 1, 2016

5 Min Read
Purpose Is Key to Bringing Women Into Tech

Technology for technology's sake is not a woman thing. However, technology for the sake of solving a problem or a purpose is what appeals to women, and that's key to bringing women into the comms industry, according to Gargi Keeling at VMware.

Keeling, director of product management for VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) NSX, network virtualization and security platform for the software-defined data center, has what she calls a "typical tech background" -- strong in math and science in high school, and two degrees in electrical engineering (BS, MIT; MS, Columbia). But when she went looking for a career, she went looking for a job that let her solve problems and had a purpose.

"I graduated with these fancy degrees but I felt that I was not a true engineer until I could build this stuff with my own hands. So when it came down to choosing careers between a typical engineering company and a bank, I chose the bank," Keeling says, "I actually liked how technology was brought together to solve problems -- and had purpose."

I checked in with Keeling late last year to find out more about her career, what it's like to be a woman in comms, and what she thinks is important to help increase the number of women in the industry.

Figure 1: Finding a Purpose Gargi Keeling, VMWare, says more women would be attracted to join the comms world if they could make the connection between technology and purpose. Gargi Keeling, VMWare, says more women would be attracted to join the comms world if they could make the connection between technology and purpose.

Liz Coyne: What is the biggest advantage to being a woman in the comms industry?

Gargi Keeling: The biggest advantage is that we are memorable because there are so few of us. I call it a bit of the Where's Waldo effect in that we stand out. Specifically, I stand a foot shorter and I speak an octave higher than a typical presenter so I stand out. I have had sales reps come to me and say, "Yeah, we love how you come in and break it up and it's so refreshing." They dance around the point that, yeah, every other presenter had been a dude.

I think of it kind of like any press is good press. To me, it has not been a problem, but I don't want to rely on the Where's Waldo effect to get attention.

LC: How did you get started in technology? What inspired you to pursue engineering?

GK: I'm a bit different because I don't fall into the mold of the girl who wasn't encouraged. I got a lot of encouragement from my dad, who's an engineer. It was kind of expected that you had two choices: doctor or engineer. But in terms of technology, in particular, I excelled in math and physics but my dad always added a little cherry on top. He said, "To be a good engineer, you have got to do mechanical drawing," so he pushed me extra.

But I have to tell you that I wasn't naturally inclined toward programming, for example. In fact, I hated it, but to my point earlier, I didn't see a purpose. I didn't get the point of it. So in some ways, I'm not like other women in that I got a lot of encouragement, but on the other hand, I didn't like technology just for technology's sake.

LC: What advice would you give to women thinking about a career in comms?

GK: In general, I would say you need to get them interested in it in the first place. I would tell them you would bring great value to the tech industry due to the innate skills that you have -- attention to detail, process orientation, multi-tasking and problem solving.

Women are problem solvers. If something went wrong when you were a kid, you'd go to your mom. Think about all the things in this world that you want to fix that don't have technology associated with them. It doesn't even have to be a great social problem. It could be wanting to share music with girlfriends, organizing parties or something like that and then how technology could be used to solve that problem or make it easier.

LC: Where do you think the comms industry loses a lot of women? How can we avoid that loss?

GK: It's in figuring out what you don't know. That's where we lose a lot of women and girls. There is this feeling of the path of least resistance, like, "This is hard, so I'm going to find something that I'm good at and I'll just keep doing it because I don't really need a high-powered career because I am going to be a mom and raise kids." That is one extreme, but my dad pointed out to me that the problem that most women have is that they have a choice and that gives them an out -- this path of least resistance. You have to set your bar high -- it doesn't have to be your ultimate goal, there are other things that you can do, but set it high.

LC: What motivates you to work and stay in the comms industry?

GK: I've been focused on technology in banking or building technology products to sell to certain industries for 20-plus years. I feel like I've been so fortunate and so blessed to have a lucrative career, but what really keeps me going is that if I build a couple of new skill sets, I might even be able to work on a technology that could do something like aid in cancer research.

We are at this amazing point in technology where biology and genetics could really benefit from a lot of what we have been doing in banking and manufacturing, so for me that keeps me going.

— Elizabeth Miller Coyne, Editor, The New IP

About the Author(s)

Elizabeth Miller Coyne

Managing Editor

Elizabeth Miller Coyne has been a writer and editor for over 20 years with 16 of those years focused on the telecom sector in a variety of capacities, including journalism, corporate communications, public relations, radio show host and more. Formerly editor of Light Reading's The New IP site, she is now leading the content and direction for Light Reading's new online learning community, Upskill U. In January, she was appointed to the NASA JPL Solar System Ambassadors program -- a public outreach program designed to work with volunteers from across the nation to communicate the excitement of JPL's space exploration missions and information about recent discoveries to people in their local communities.

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