Proofreader in IT

There she is responsible for programming a student administration system. What she likes about her job is seeing the fruits of her labour directly. "When my colleagues need new features, I programme them and develop the portal further. It can also happen that existing functions need to be adapted or expanded." However, this career path was not obvious from the outset. Patrizia actually completed a business school education.

In her mid-20s, Patrizia decided to do an apprenticeship as an information technologist, which she completed through ZAM - the Centre for Training Management Styria - as part of the "Women in Technology" project. At the same time, she began a bachelor's degree programme in Software Design at FH Joanneum to consolidate the basics and familiarise herself with different areas of IT. After successfully completing her degree, she went on to study for a Master's degree in Cloud Computing Engineering at the FH Burgenland. When asked why this particular degree programme, she answers:

Patrizia had already dealt with the topic of smart cities during her bachelor's degree and won the 'Huawei Seeds of the Future' competition with a thesis on the subject. The award enabled her to travel to the Chinese industrial city of Shenzhen to familiarise herself with the latest technologies at Huawei's headquarters. "This experience was an incentive for me to continue studying this subject in order to gain further insights. Cloud Computing Engineering was perfect for this."

As part of her application for a place on the Master's programme in Cloud Computing Engineering, Patrizia was offered a job at Forschung Burgenland in the area of "Cloud, Cyber Physical Systems and Security". This gave her the opportunity to directly apply the theoretical content she had learnt during her Master's degree in research projects. Her enthusiasm for science was also awakened by the Master's programme and her career in research.

Patrizia also emphasises that she really appreciated this kind of support during her time as a student. In addition to the positive aspects of the degree programme, she was critical of the high number of male lecturers. This spurred her on to become a lecturer in IT herself. She signed her first teaching contract on the Applied Electronics and Photonics Bachelor's degree programme at Burgenland University of Applied Sciences. She says: "Nowadays, you can no longer speak of a male-dominated field when it comes to IT. The number of women is increasing, albeit slowly. So my advice to women who are interested in a career in IT is not to be discouraged. Technical ability and understanding has nothing to do with gender. It is important that women "do their thing" in this respect. When I think of my mother's initial reactions, who was very worried about the technical training and said I would never get a job in this male domain, I still have to smile almost seven years after my decision to go into IT."