In this edition of She the Future, we hear her the STEM story of North Carolina-based HCLTech apprentice Alaina Fletcher:

“I have always admired and have been inspired by Ellen Swallow Richards. She was the first woman to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1870 and is considered the mother of Ecology and Home Economics. Not only was she a brilliant science who saw science in the world around her, she was persistent and pursued her interests and studies despite the obstacles that she and the women of her time faced.

Even as a child I knew I wanted to pursue a STEM field. When I was young, I thought I wanted to be a veterinarian, until I discovered that veterinarians didn't just pet all the animals all day. As I grew older, I considered architecture for a time, but in middle school I was on the school's first Lego Robotics team and participating in that sparked an interest in algorithms and software development, that brought me to where I am today.

Mentorship is essential to professional development. At HCLTech, I have learned a great deal about the development process while working under the supervision of my reporting manager Ankush Gupta.

My advice to young women in STEM is to live a life of continual education. This is probably also applicable to other fields, but for technology specifically, in such a dynamic and changing field it is important to always be learning new concepts and skills to not only stay competitive, but also to expand your base of knowledge.”

To learn more about #ShePowersProgress, visit: https://www.hcltech.com/shepowersprogress