“With these skills, I can not only take charge of my own career but also inspire and empower others, striving to foster a supportive industry environment.”
-Angela Chen
Technovation Alumna
July 15 is World Youth Skills Day, a day to recognize the value of preparing young people with skills they’ll need to thrive in the workplace and beyond. This year, the theme for World Youth Skills Day is “Skilling teachers, trainers and youth for a transformative future“. As a technology and entrepreneurship education organization, we appreciate the way this theme highlights the essential role that teachers, trainers, and other educators play in preparing young people for a future defined by rapidly changing technology. Today (and every day) we celebrate the important relationship between educators and students in preparing everyone to be catalysts for change and build a prosperous and sustainable world for all. Together we can shape a brighter future where no one is left behind.
Today we’re proud to share some thoughts from Angela Chen, a Technovation Girls Alumnae and current Shopify Dev Degree intern. Angela participated in Technovation Girls in 2021 where she worked on a live emergency reporting app to promote community and reduce bystander effect. Today Angela is wrapping up her 2nd year of Shopify’s Dev Degree program where she works on Infrastructure Security. We asked Angela what she thought about the World Economic Forum’s top 10 work skills of tomorrow.
As a young woman working in the tech industry, these skills are not only essential for thriving within the industry, but also for driving innovation and making a meaningful impact in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Complex problem-solving and critical thinking are at the core of what I do. In a field where challenges are abundant, being able to break down complex problems into manageable components and think critically to develop effective solutions is essential. Additionally, creativity, ideation, and initiative fuel my ability to think outside the box, propose novel ideas, and contribute to the development of innovative products or services.
Photo from Angela Chen/Shopify: Angela Chen speaking at the opening event for the Ottawa Chapter of Technovation Girls, offering advice and encouragement to current participants.
The ability to analyze data, identify patterns, and derive meaningful insights allows me to make informed decisions. In the tech industry, where new technologies emerge regularly, staying on top of things requires continuous active learning and learning strategies. Actively seeking out new knowledge and adapting to evolving tools and technologies enables me to remain agile and continually enhance my skill set. Approaches to challenges are only as diverse as the people who are contributing different angles, which all contribute to the continuous improvement and growth of the tech industry.
In a tech-driven world, technology use, monitoring, and control are fundamental skills that enable me to navigate the digital landscape. Even those who may not be as well acquainted with the industry benefit from having these skills in an increasingly technological world, in order to be able to be critical of disruptive technologies and truly understand their potential implications on our everyday lives– the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The tech industry can be demanding and fast-paced, which necessitates resilience, stress tolerance, and flexibility.
“The ability to adapt to changing circumstances, embrace challenges, accept failure and bounce back from setbacks allows me to grow both personally and professionally. “
Leadership and social influence are particularly important skills for young women in the tech industry. With these skills, I can not only take charge of my own career but also inspire and empower others, striving to foster a supportive industry environment that harnesses the collective intelligence and perspectives of a diverse workforce. There is still a lot of work to be done– nobody is in a better position to advocate for yourself and your needs more than you!
The caveat here is that all of these skills are the foundation of any professional journey that cannot simply be checked off like a list– they take time to acquire, hone, and can constantly be improved upon. But where to start? A lot of these skills come with experience, having a growth mindset, and learning by doing. Technovation put me in an environment where I started actively thinking about being a part of the industry that it exposed me to, how to make the best of the resources the program provided, and what skills I needed in order to thrive professionally.
To conclude, as a young woman in the tech industry, constantly developing these skills empowers me to not only shape my own future but also paves the way for a more diverse and progressive tech landscape.