Ep.21: The more diverse your path into technology

An abstract dream engineer passionate about increasing the number of Pasifika Women in Tech

That's the LinkedIn tagline of today's guest, Norie Ape. Together we discuss some of the reasons behind why only 2% of New Zealand's technology industry is classed as Pasifika or Maori - despite those cultures making up 25% of the population.

And the numbers get smaller when you add other diversity layers.

So how do we solve this?

Norie provides a simple view:

Provide people with a pathway, and connect them with the opportunities. And remove the perception that you need to be a certain person with a certain skill

In a wide ranging conversation, we cover:

• The value of Cultural Intelligence (CQ) in your organisation
• Why having the same crew solving problems will always result in the same outcomes.
• How, by virtue of having different thought processes, the conversation goes in a different path

We also look at some big ideas:

• What role models do we have?
• Why does the industry prescribe a particular degree?
• How do we change the perception of tech to be more than just development?

Because if we want the products and services across the country to be reflective of society, then we need better representation

Norie, a Samoan digital product owner from the Mighty Auckland, is a passionate Blues supporter with experience within the government and private sector. What she loves about her role is the continuous engagement between tech teams & business teams to iteratively design, test, develop, implement and measure the success of customer centered products and services. 

When she's not refining her list of places to brunch in Wellington City or trying to promote and increase the number of Pasifika People and Pasifika Women in the technology sector, you can usually find her testing out in workshops or office corners ways to open up technical and process designs to be more innovative by encouraging diverse thought patterns and processes OR sharing stories of how she went from Case Manager @ Work & Income with an Honors Degree in Foreign Policy to a Digital Product Owner. In short she likes hearing, sharing and experiencing awesome stories and life experiences to help unravel narly problems.