Nguyen Thi Bao Chau.

According to a United Nations report in 2021, women accounted for 28% of all graduates with engineering degree and 40% of all computer science and informatics graduates globally. In Vietnam, TopDev's report shows that women made up only 7.85% of the total people working in the technology field in 2021.

As demand for highly skilled human resources in the fields of science and technology is rising, the room to promote gender equality and attract more women to study and work in these industries is huge.

Graduating from RMIT University’s IT faculty in 2016, Nguyen Thi Bao Chau joined Intel Products Vietnam as an IT intern. Less than three years later she was appointed as a manager of the new product integration project, directly involved in the operation and production of many high-tech products.

After nearly six years with Intel, Nguyen Thi Bao Chau has just joined Apple at the position of operational project manager, responsible for overseeing the production of camera components for phone and tablet products.

Bao Chau said that although she came from software programming, she took advantage of the opportunity to learn and develop in the field of high-tech production and operation management. It was her knowledge and practical skills that helped the young woman pass eight rounds of interviews to get her current position.

Tran Dang Bao Nhi

“The IT background I accumulated from my days at RMIT has given me the logical thinking needed to do well in today's work. Technical background is always a great advantage no matter what industry you choose to work in,” said Bao Chau.

Job opportunities are very diverse "if you know how to promote your strengths".

“I find that women working in this industry have an advantage over men in communication skills, negotiation and stakeholder management skills – skills that I personally cultivated when I was a student,” said Bao Chau.

Entering RMIT University six years after Nguyen Thi Bao Chau, Tran Dang Bao Nhi decided to study IT under the encouragement of her family even though she is not good at natural sciences.

Nhi, a former student of the literature class of the High School for the Gifted of the Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, said that at first, she struggled to find the beauty of computer programming languages ​​like Python or C++.

Tran Dang Bao Nhi's persistent efforts and determination to conquer all challenges have paid off – she is one of the few students to twice receive the Outstanding Academic Achievement Scholarship of RMIT thanks to a very high GPA of 3.86/4.00.

“I still remember the overwhelming feeling of happiness when I got 95/100 points for the first time in a programming test in semester 1. Thanks to that initial push, I was more confident about my abilities and that was motivation for me to continue to hone my knowledge,” Bao Nhi said.

Bao Nhi is also a core member of Neo Culture Tech - New Technology Club at RMIT. She has been working part-time since her third year of university at a company specializing in providing human resource management software. Although she hasn't graduated yet, Bao Nhi has become a full-time IT specialist at a global IT company.

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