International Women in Engineering Day: Gemmaโs Journey (So Far)
In December of 2023, Gemma Watters became QA Lead at Idox, overseeing the many branches of Quality Assurance across the Group – however, this is only one step in an already accomplished career in software engineering. On this International Women in Engineering Day, weโre shining a spotlight on Gemmaโs journey so far and hearing her thoughts on the wider software engineering sector.
The world of software almost missed out on Gemmaโs drive and talents, were it not for a change of heart in the second year of her degree in law & criminology. Upon deciding the barristerโs life probably wasnโt for her, Gemma reflected on what she wanted to do before coming across a software testerโs academy. Local government had teamed up with companies and colleges across Belfast to offer several weeks of software classes along with a company placement, and this seemed like just the opportunity to suit where Gemma was at.
This is where Gemmaโs passion for development began. As youโd expect, the classes went well. She enjoyed her placement, but when she heard Tascomi (now part of Idox Group) was looking for people, she decided to go along for an interview. They took Gemma on early in her career and provided a space for her to flourish, alongside other women who came through the very same testing academy (one of whom is currently on the Idox Cloud team at the time of writing). It was a stroke of good fortune for Gemma that she landed with us: sheโs very professionally ambitious โ as youโre about to see!
Gemma Watters
QA Lead at Idox
Why on earth, asks Gemma, canโt a man be the best nurse in the world? Why canโt a woman be the best programmer ever?
Tascomi was acquired by Idox in 2019, just as Gemma was expecting her second child. In fact, the day after the papers were signed, Gemma left for maternity leave! And when she returned a year later, Idox acknowledged her achievements so far by promoting her to a senior position.
In Gemmaโs own words, Idox took her out of a small business โsafety netโ and into a wider world of โbig softwareโ. In 2023, QA Leads across the Group were brought together to see how we could improve quality assurance. Gemma shared her ideas and recommendations, which proved to be a watershed moment in her career.
Working in a larger Group infrastructure meant that Idox acted as a kind of sandbox for her to flex, learn, share her knowledge, all to ultimately change the very structure of software development processes and pipelines in a large company environment. Gemma then progressed into the Group QA Lead role she currently holds with us.
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By Gemmaโs own admission, she has been lucky with the companies sheโs worked at. Idox actively invests in women: its QA teams have always benefitted from female members throughout Gemmaโs tenure – but the unfortunate reality is that so much of the world still sees โwomen as nurses, men as programmers.โ Why on earth, asks Gemma, canโt a man be the best nurse in the world? Why canโt a woman be the best programmer ever? She highlights the universal need to educate children, so the next generation grows up to know that girls and women can do whatever it is theyโve set their mind to. Gemma has a girl and a boy herself and she tells them both exactly that โ so long as youโre good to people and youโre not hurting anyone, you can pursue any life path you desire.
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QA, says Gemma, must always be considered a major part of the development process. She’s adamant that QA should never be conceived of as something that comes in โat the endโ: QA teams like hers are specialists with information that can keep product creation moving smoothly and efficiently, ensuring expert knowledge feeding into the development process at all times. Itโs her aim to grow the team to become an ever-greater part of the software generation process from start to finish, so the companyโs products can keep on improving.
We know the best thing we can do is not get in the way of exceptional people with talent, drive, and ambition who wish to make an impact at our organisation. Weโre proud to have many such people here at Idox.