Women in Technology at HP | HP® Official Site

Mithra
User Experience Research Scientist in Immersive Experiences Lab

“I’ve worked with HP for 5 years. I think what sets HP apart is the fact that people are curious about each other, everyone is from different places, and curiosity is something that’s encouraged in the company.

So when you’re hanging out with people who are wanting to get to know you better you also want to share a lot of your life. My own team in particular, they’re almost like a second family to me. HP managers in particular were always very good about having conversations around where you want to go and really focusing discussions around employee growth in addition to what you’re doing for the businesses as well.

It was always a healthy mix between what you’re bringing to the company and what the company’s doing for you. With mentors, there’s so many people to engage with and emulate within HP so I feel like I have a whole host of them. They may not know they’re mentors, but to me they are. I’ve suddenly noticed I’ve gone from being a new, fresh-out-of-school employee to suddenly I’m the one whose giving advice to people and that’s been a really interesting shift.

I’m happy to work for a company that’s really providing opportunities for me to engage and make an impact outside. The nice thing about HP is if I’m a poster child for informal learning, they are an institution for informal learning.”

Kathy
Manager of Quality Programs in Personal Systems

“I think that what makes HP a great place to work is that there’s that flexibility, teamwork that allows you to be as good as you want to be. There’s no boundaries. I’ve never as a woman felt I had any boundaries. I was only limited by my ability and my willingness to do hard work.

HP was really supportive – I had 2 daughters early on in my career and I wanted to spend more time with them, and so twice during that period I was allowed to work reduced hours without my career suffering but I needed that extra time and that meant the world to me.

HP has such a rich culture of teamwork and people willing to help you and mentor you. It’s always been such a rewarding experience, and I just like that really sets HP apart. My manager always allowed me to take classes and supported my career goals. We worked towards what we wanted and I always had a mentor to be there and help me through those challenging times, and I think that’s what makes HP special. It enabled me to do so many different things, and its’ been such a huge part of my life.

I feel like HP is kind of a second family. I feel like I’ve done all the things I want to do, and I’m continuing to learn and be challenged, and I think that’s pretty amazing.”

Lihua
Director and Principal Investigator at HP Labs

“Here at HP Labs, actually I’m a Director and Principal Investigator leading a great team. I’m in a great place, HP Labs right so we really pay for us to be open minded, create, innovate and invent. So it’s a lot of opportunity here for us to really achieve what we think is important.

When you actually see hope, and see the future, and see direction, you’re excited about it. There are moments, and you kind of stand in the middle of a road and you don’t know which direction would be the best direction for you to go. How many directions you can go – that to me is very important. Actually how HP really helped me grow, to me it’s more toward how I want to grow within a very diverse environment.

There are many aspects and many places, like many divisions, can actually help you grow yourself and also get your expertise to be utilized. I really like and enjoy what I’m doing. It doesn’t mean there’s no challenge or anything – that’s probably part of the reason - because there’s lot of challenge. Being a woman in the tech world, how you feel about it – I often want time to deliver the message that it’s not easy but I do a see a brighter future and path forward.

For all women, I think the future or the path for yourself is really in ourselves and in our own hands. You might actually experience a lot of challenges, obstacles, but you’ll be surprised if you try hard you can get a lot of support from all dimensions.”

Aja
3D Research Engineer at HP Labs

“I’ve been with HP for about 2 years. I’m on the 3D Printing team and I’m in the specific Labs research group of material science. I’m also very grateful for all of my colleagues.

They’re all really interesting people. They’re all compassionate. They’re all very motivated in what work we’re doing so we have this team spirit to collaborate together. You’re also free to be yourself. I feel very lucky. I feel very safe and like I can be my authentic self which is really important for me in choosing a job and a place to work at that and I can do what I love and be who I want to be. I feel like I can actually both get my higher education and progress in my career.

And here I’ve progressed a lot. I started as a technician just fixing machines and printing parts all the way to Research Engineer. I have my own research projects. I like all the support and this fast progression through my career. To pay your dues before you can work on something fun doesn’t make sense to me. Seems like a waste of life.

You only can live so long, you don’t know what’s going to happen you should be working on something that you’re passionate about and being rewarded for all of the hard work you’re doing while you’re doing that work.”

Maria
Asset Management/Procurement Specialist for HP Common Web Platform

“HP great company, great people. I know that when it comes to my career, any obstacles that I may have, I always have them to back me up or to provide guidance and direction.

I can do my work and I can go home, and have a life at home. And I know that if I sit there or I either talk to somebody they’re always willing to help and we all collaborate amongst each other and that’s awesome because I know that if I have an issue I can also pick up the phone, talk to my manager, and she will also support me as well. So even though there are challenges here, at the end of the day we all work for one company and we’re all here with one goal: to hopefully have this company succeed because if it suceeds, we suceed with it.

Well here actually they’re not only my colleagues, they’re also I would call friends. Because I know when there’s an issue, I don’t have any problem talking to them and asking advice as well. You know we may not perform the same activities at work, but sometimes they may have an expertice that I don’t or are familiar with something I have no knowledge of. So the teamwork is awesome. I have other people call me from other departments, “ you know, I heard that you can help me with this; can you please help me?” and I say sure, and I think because I’m not afraid to ask for help or research, or pick up the phone and say, “you know I need help, can someone help me? If you can’t help me, can somebody else help me?”. And because of that, I think a lot of times they do come to me. HP has great products and the people here are great.”