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Girls at tech, Ozon Tech

On the eve of the “day of beautiful and spring”, on which they wish “simple female happiness” and “femininity”, the girls from the Ozon team asked the girls from the Ozon IT team about stereotypes. Including gender.

Varvara Mizurova, team lead in the team of offline quality metrics and crowdsourcing in Ozon


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In the summer, working with tutors is bad, the trip to CERN also failed, and I needed three months' work - so I got a job as a tester. I sincerely thought in September to return to the laboratory. But the supervisor set the condition: either I work only in science or I do not work in science.

How did you come to IT?

I worked as a junior researcher, but I earned more than half my money as a tutor. In the summer, working with tutors is bad, the trip to CERN also failed, and I needed three months' work - so I got a job as a tester. I sincerely thought in September to return to the laboratory. But the supervisor set the condition: either I work only in science or I do not work in science. I left science and stayed in IT. After some time, I was bored of being a manual tester, they started an automation project. Then she moved to another company as a tester-automation engineer. At some point, it grew to Timlida. At Ozon, my team at the very beginning also related to testing, but after some time it became clear that the tasks of our team were no longer about testing, but about development.Now my team is engaged in offline search metrics and task automation with crowdsourcing.

How does it work with dudes?

As always and everywhere: with smart, knowledgeable and adequate - good. With stupid and inadequate - not really.

Do you feel that they treat you in a special way, because you're a girl?

Obviously, a person who doesn’t like that the leader is a girl will not come to my team. But from the candidates, I never heard clearly that this did not suit them.

True, IT is a male industry? Or not already?

Maybe. But I studied in an engineering class, where there were 10 girls. And that was the maximum for last years. And at the physics department, where in the first year of girls there was a third, and in the last year - almost half. And we were also told that these are big numbers for the physics department. After my release, the trend continued. Now at interviews among development candidates, I see both girls and guys. If we talk about the development, perhaps there are still fewer girls, but in general, there are no more units. But among admins they are much rarer birds.

Tatyana Lupenkova, Product manager at Ozon


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Stereotypes, of course, still remain, but it’s rather at the level of jokes, for example: we have nowhere to plant a new girl - maybe on our knees then? Although it’s possible to joke with respect to boys :)

How did you come to IT?

I came to IT about 14 years ago, I have been working since 18 years. In my environment, many were engaged in design, layout - my hands grow for this work from the wrong place and I had to start programming :)

What do you do in Ozon?

I lead the direction of working with goods on the marketplace. We already have more than 8000 active sellers, they form about 80% of the Ozon assortment. My team and I are trying to make it so that, regardless of product category, starting an assortment is quick, easy and convenient. For example, they recently introduced the addition of goods to the assortment with one button - the seller only needs to find his Ozon. And now we are developing a new calculator that will clearly show the sellers what their income is made up of.

How does it work with dudes?

I have 11 boys in my team, I love everyone very much. The backend is still considered a “male” profession, yet there are more girls in analytics and testing. Just recently they took the first girl.

Do you feel that you are somehow especially treated in the team because you are a girl?


Absolutely not. At work, there is no concept of “boy” and “girl”, but there is a “colleague” and “developer”. But I had a story about 8 years ago: I just went to work and the boss asked the guys in the team not to swear at me - I'm a girl. After 15 minutes, I started to swear first.

Is there a different attitude to girls in the field?

Stereotypes, of course, still remain, but it’s rather at the level of jokes, for example: we have nowhere to plant a new girl - maybe on our knees then? Although you can joke like that with regard to boys :) In fact, everything depends on the person. I can say that boys are definitely not paid anymore simply because they are “boys”. And this does not affect the increase in any way: our new “girl” from junior rose to the middle in just three months - because she really is a good specialist.

Ksenia Boksha, Head of Data science at Ozon


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In general, I don’t really support all this hype around the “gender issue” - for example, special gatherings about women in IT. First of all, it all depends on the person and you need to prove by deed that you are worth something.

How did you come to IT?

About 9 years ago, graduating from Mehmat Moscow State University.

What do you do at Ozon?
I am responsible for all machine learning at Ozon, for the entire pipeline. My team and I help to develop and implement ML in projects, starting from the idea stage to integration into the business.

How does it work with dudes?

I have only one girl in a team of 15 people. I love to work with the boys, however, February 23 is tight. But on March 8th it’s great - for example, today we were given a quest, where gifts were given for guesses — I earned flowers and 3 gifts.

Do you feel that they treat you in a special way because you are a girl?

I don’t feel at all, although I know teams that do not want to take girls just out of a desire to keep their “men's club”.

Is there a different attitude to girls in the field?
Absolutely no different. In general, I don’t really support all this hype around the “gender issue” - for example, special gatherings about women in IT. First of all, it all depends on the person and you need to prove by deed that you are worth something.

Why are there more boys in IT? Or no more?

Historically, few girls are eager for technical specialties, although in recent years there have obviously been more. For example, we have two girls from three interns. There is a tendency to achieve balance.

Tatyana Pechenina, iOS developer at Ozon


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It's pretty funny that the female candidate is particularly active, at least that was the case in the companies where I worked. In relation to myself, I did not notice any surprise or difference in attitude - but maybe I was lucky.

How did you come to IT?

I entered the university in a specialty related to development, because then I thought that I liked mathematics - but that was before meeting with matanalysis, of course) Well, then I went to tech support in IT companies, and then to mobile development.

What do you do at Ozon?

iOS development of an application for customers. By the way, we now have about 4 million active users.

Do you feel that you are especially treated on the team because you are a girl?

It's pretty funny that the female candidate is particularly active, at least that was the case in the companies where I worked. In relation to myself, I did not notice any surprise or difference in attitude - but maybe I was lucky.

Is it true that the IT industry is male? Or not already?

It seems to me, no longer, in iOS development, for example, there are a lot of girls. Perhaps in the framework of one company it does not seem so, although at conferences it is still noticeable.

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