In this episode we talk to Bharti Lim, who is determined that young women should have as many opportunities to work - and claim senior roles - in tech. She says the reason girls often don't consider careers in tech is because they don't see women like them in the industry. She wants to change that, and joins me on the podcast to tell me how she thinks parents can help. 

7:00 - Parents will be reassured to know that Bharti's teenage years weren't full of perfect moments, yet she still has a very successful career in tech. 

10:00 - Growing up in an Asian family with first generation parents. Experiencing depression and self-harm as a teenager. 

15:00 - Masking as a teenage girl with ADHD.

19:00 - The value of counselling and psychotherapy to understand yourself and your feelings, particularly to undo unhealthy patterns adopted in teenage years. 

27:00 - How to inspire more girls into tech. Some examples of jobs in tech, and why girls might be more tech-savvy than they realise. Why tech isn't a boy's job. 

38:00 - How to encourage interest in tech, and why it's more glamorous than you think. 

Who is Bharti Lim? 

Bharti is a cyber security strategy manager at Computacenter, who run work experience days. She has worked in the cyber security industry for over 18 years, and has realised the importance of being visible, not only in the workplace, but for the next generation of young women in tech to see that there is no such thing as 'a man's job'. 

She is passionate about initiatives around diversity and inclusion, gender and ethnicity, and is an active advocate of change. Bharti was a finalist for the CRN Women in Channel Awards 2021 and a SHE awards winner in 2020. Her TEDx talk explores how we can positively redefine the 'old boys' network'.

More from Helen Wills:

Helen wills is a teen mental health podcaster and blogger at Actually Mummy, a resource for midlife parents of teens.

Thank you for listening! Subscribe to the Teenage Kicks podcast to hear new episodes. If you have a suggestion for the podcast please get in touch.

You can find more from Helen Wills on parenting teenagers on Instagram and Twitter @iamhelenwills.

For information on your data privacy please visit Zencastr's policy page

Please note that Helen Wills is not a medical expert, and nothing in the podcast should be taken as medical advice. If you're worried about yourself or a teenager, please seek support from a medical professional.