This is part 2 of a 3-part series where we interviewed Gen Z developers around the world about their views on job opportunities, their workplaces, developer communities, and more.
You can read the first installment of the series to learn about developer culture in London and New York City. To find out what it’s like to be a developer in Nigeria or the San Francisco Bay Area, check out part 3 of this series.
This week, HackerRank sat down with Aditi and Gabriela, Gen Z developers (those born in 1997 onward) from two countries with rapidly-growing developer populations: India and Brazil. We discussed the state of developer talent in their countries, expanding people’s definition of what a developer looks like, and where they think the future of the tech industry is headed.
Aditi, who is based in India, echoed what other Gen Z women from the Asia-Pacific believe: India has a lot of potential to be the next global tech hub by 2023. The country’s appeal is most likely due to the fact that the number of software developers in India is growing at such a rapid rate that the country is projected to have the largest population of developers in the world by 2023. India is also home to the third largest number of tech startups in the world.
On the other hand, Gabriela was surprised to learn how in-demand developers are in her country, Brazil. In fact, the majority of venture capital money invested in Latin America has gone to Brazilian startups. Moreover, the demand for developers in disciplines like Data Science and DevOps continues to rise in the country and more than 80% of Gen Z Brazilians aspire to work in the tech sector.
Find out more about what they had to say below:
Aditi is based in India and is currently interning as a software developer while also pursuing a computer science degree at PES University.
Jump ahead:
- What made you decide to become a developer?
- What has it been like being a woman interested in coding?
- Do you think the tech industry is changing? And if so, in what way?
- In 5 years, where do you think the global center of tech will be?
HackerRank: What made you decide to become a developer?
Aditi: I was initially a biology student aspiring to become a doctor. This, however, was short-lived. My cousins who were software developers helped me understand that my interest in solving complex puzzles and problems could be channeled into programming. I looked into this before I had to pick a major for my studies. I was initially thinking of taking electronics and communication engineering as this was close to computer science and I was afraid the 2 years of biology over computer science would not do me good if I picked computer science. Ultimately, as I looked more into it, I couldn’t not take computer science! This was definitely the best decision for me.
HackerRank: What has it been like being a woman interested in coding?
Aditi: I’d definitely say it has been good so far. I have met a large number of people who are supportive of my career and help me achieve my goals. I would definitely like to see more women in the field. But I think this will slowly change as more and more women are taking to programming.
[Learn which countries have the most women developers.]
HackerRank: Do you think the tech industry is changing? And if so, in what way?
Aditi: Yes, the tech industry is changing and in a good way. There are many more women in the industry than there were 5 or 8 years. There’s a good ratio of men and women who are graduating from college with technical degrees. Companies now have equal hiring initiatives to reduce bias based on gender.
[To learn more about how companies are supporting women in the tech industry.]
HackerRank: In 5 years, where do you think the global center of tech will be?
Aditi: I would love to see India in the list of possible places as a large number of talented developers graduate every year from the many colleges here.
Gabriela is based in Brazil and is currently working full-time as a developer at a local software company while also pursuing a degree in computer science.
Jump ahead:
- What made you decide to become a developer?
- What has it been like being a woman interested in coding?
- Do you think the tech industry is changing? And if so, in what way?
- What are your thoughts on Brazil’s booming tech sector and rising need for developers?
HackerRank: What made you decide to become a developer?
Gabriela: When I was 12, I had a blog and I liked to play around with themes. The only way to customize them was through editing HTML and CSS code. So, I taught myself how to edit code and found myself really enjoying coding. I think really learned how to program in college. I liked programming so much that I went from C to C++ and Haskell on my very first year. What really hooked me into learning it faster was the programming marathons, which are competitions where we form teams and have to solve problems with code - exactly what I was looking for.
[Learn more about how Gen Z women are learning code at a younger age than previous generations.]
HackerRank: What has it been like being a woman interested in coding?
Gabriela: It is a bigger responsibility than I would like it to be. I turn out to be the only woman in a lot of situations, and it is often too much pressure. If a man makes a mistake, people may think "this man is bad at coding." If I make a mistake, people may think "women are bad at coding," because there aren't other references to them. I don't like to have to constantly represent half of the world's population in terms of being good or bad at anything.
HackerRank: Do you think the tech industry is changing? And if so, in what way?
Gabriela: Yes. I think there is a movement from looking for hard skills to wanting people with soft skills. That gives opportunities to individuals who don't have a solid background and experiences. Learning how to code is getting more accessible with so many internet tutorials and online tools, and state-of-the-art technologies are only getting newer. These opportunities are changing the diversity of developers profiles, and all types of people are getting into the industry. I hope the resistance to these people will completely fade away soon enough.
[Find out more about how often students teach themselves coding.]
HackerRank: What are your thoughts on Brazil’s booming tech sector and rising need for developers?
Gabriela: It surprises me on the country scale. The city where I live is actually very industrial, so we have a few colleges with computer science related courses and a lot of jobs to be filled, so it isn't hard to find other developers around here. I didn't think this was true for the rest of Brazil.
