Eileen Brown, manager of Microsoft’s IT Pro Evangelist Team

Eileen Brown did not have a straightforward entry into the IT world. “I was the first female to enter the merchant navy as a navigating officer. It was a very male-dominated industry,” she said. After that Brown went into container ship planning, before entering the IT profession.

Brown did not have an IT degree or any formal qualifications. “I found I had an affinity with IT. Around 1994, I moved into data processing for mainframes and AS/400s and was able to understand what those guys were saying and translate it for the rest of the business,” she explained.

Brown then went on to become a technology trainer, before moving to Microsoft’s pre-sales department. She is now the firm’s technology evangelist for messaging and collaboration.

To attract more females to the sector, Brown believes that it is important for current IT women to share their experiences. “Just being out there might inspire other women to join the industry,” she said.

Companies also have their part to play. “Microsoft has mentoring rings for all groups, including women, and we have job sharing and a crèche at Thames Valley Park, which is great for working mothers,” Brown said. Half of applicants for this year’s Microsoft graduate scheme were female, she added.

“Our customers are a diverse spread of people so we need to reflect that mix internally,” Brown argued. “It’s very important to get women into operating system and product design because if they’re not involved at any stage of the process the software might not be optimised for women to use.”

Next page: Eva Chen, chief executive and co-founder, Trend Micro