Each month, the Anita Borg Institute profiles Senior Technical Women. We have selected 7 questions and asked each of these amazing women to share their answers.
1. How did you decide to pursue a career in technology?
My father was the major influence in my choosing a career in technology. He is an engineer and was the CTO of a research institute. When I was little, he started to cultivate an atmosphere of positive attitude toward technology. I am good in math and my father believed I could be a great engineer like him. When it was the time to choose a major, he again pointed me the direction of an emergent field: medical engineering. After I finished my bachelor’s degree and Ph.D., I had a chance to go to various areas but both times I chose Computer Science.
2. Based on your own experience, what skill(s) or characteristic(s) do you think are most important for technical women to succeed?
There are several: a) Know what you know and what you don’t know, and strive to a goal with substance. I saw that when a person wants to achieve a goal but is not ready for it, the result is usually a deception and maybe a disaster. If you know what you know, then you have confidence in yourself. Don’t be too shy to let your manager know what you want to achieve in your career. b) Don’t let gender be a barrier. c) Stay current with technologies. d) You also need to be a great communicator.
3. What was the greatest challenge that you overcame in your career?
When I switched my field from aerospace to Internet security, I faced the greatest challenge of my career: I knew very little about the Windows platform and nothing about the Internet, let alone Internet security for Windows. I dove into the project, drew the product’s architecture diagram, translated the business requirements into software requirements, worked with the other team members on the functional specs and established the development process. We gave a new look to Norton AntiVirus 2002, rewrote its central architectural components and introduced a new UI paradigm. The challenge was enormous. I was very lucky because I had an A-team. We shipped the product on time.
4. How do you deal with work/life balance?
I’m working on it. We have endless amounts of work. I work even on my days-off (I just work less than usual). In a highly competitive industry and market, work/life balance is a tough call. However, I’m always there for my family. I rarely miss my daughters’ school and personal activities. I’m also lucky to have a husband who shares the family responsibility and supports my career advance. He enables me to do lots outside of the family (work and social activities).
5. What advice would you give to women in high tech who want to advance on the technical management track specifically?
First, you should know if you are a person who has intuition and passion for it. If you don’t know, then try something small to begin with. You don’t necessarily need to get a manager position in order to try it. There are many areas you can demonstrate your leadership and organizational skills. I’ve also heard people say that they love the management job but hate one or two aspects of it. My view on this is that you need to like all aspects of it, otherwise, you will suffer. Once you have a clear idea of your capability and potentials, then work with your manager to set up a career path and work toward your goal.
6. How do you stay current in your technical field?
I have to balance the management work, strategic planning and technical involvement. I try to attend the design reviews and functional specification reviews as much as I can, and read the functional specs. I also read publications about our competitors, technical reports, as well as technology trends. There is a fine line to walk when balancing having in-depth technical knowledge and staying on top of everything. You must develop a vision of the technical field you are in and keep the technical trends in mind so that you can both ride the tide and lead.
7. In your opinion, what (if any) are the remaining barriers faced by women in technology?
My gender has never been a barrier for my career growth. However, I know women encounter lots of barriers in technology. There aren’t enough women in technology. Today the number of female students in technology keeps declining. When I talk to young girls in grade 5-12, most of them want to go to medicine and law. The society has a tradition and culture that women don’t go to into technology fields. We are lucky to be in this field and we need to help society change this tradition and culture. Another barrier is how women can keep up with the technology while taking care of their family. Traditionally women play a more important role in a family with children. This responsibility takes a lot of energy and time. On another hand, if you are in high tech, you have to constantly learn new technologies. For example, an operating system can be obsolete in 5 years, a language is replaced by another in maybe 7~10 years. The Internet in 2000 was not the same magnitude as today. That takes a lot of study time to keep current. It is very challenging for a woman who has young kids.
Wei Lin, Sr. Director of Engineering heads the development of the Consumer product lines including Norton 360, Norton Internet Security, Norton AntiVirus and Norton Mobile Security.
Lin has led various engineering groups within Symantec, including Security Technology Group and the Norton Brand consumer products group. In the last two years, Lin has been part of the team that delivered the award winning Norton products. The Norton Internet Security 2010 has earned more than 150 positive reviews worldwide. Before entering into the internet security field, Lin led software development in computer 3D graphics and reconstruction applied to aerospace and biomedical research.
Lin holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Fu Dan University, and a Ph.D. in Medical Imaging from University of Paris (XI). Lin has been a member of the Industry Advisory Committee at Anita Borg Institute since 2008; serves as a co-chair of the same board in 2010 and is now a member of the Advisor Board of Anita Borg Institute.