Up against women from some of the most successful businesses in the world, HSDC lecturer Nadia Arab has come second in her category at the Women in IT Awards.
Nadia, who teaches Computer Hardware at Havant & South Downs College, attended the event in London on 31 January after she had been shortlisted for the ‘Editor’s Choice’ award.
Nadia said: “I was really apprehensive but when we got there it literally felt like a celebrity event. There were tables from Amazon, Salesforce, Rolls Royce and Sky News.
“I was sitting next to Businesswoman of the Year and CEO Security of the Year – all these amazing women – and I was saying I don’t actually know what category I’m in or how I had been identified. They told me that the people who had arranged the event headhunted me and selected me out of 700 women, so I was very taken aback by it all!”
Nadia teaches 16 to 19-year-olds the build of computers, virtual machines, operating systems, technical supports, computer systems and human computer interaction – and is a core member of the computer hardware team at the College.
Because of her success, Nadia was recently awarded ‘exceptional lecturer’ at HSDC in 2017.
When not in College, Nadia works for a company she started herself called CaptureITraining Solutions. In the summer break Nadia helps end users to use social media and how to understand computer components. Nadia has trained users from the Guildhall barristers in Portsmouth as part of this company as well as private clients from home. She is also a fitness instructor at Roko gym in Portsmouth.
Nadia said: “When they announced me as runner up I felt like I was on a TV show, I genuinely felt like it wasn’t real, it was so overwhelming and glamorous.
“I was really thinking to myself ‘why?’ But they said they had looked at all my skills and I had achieved quite a lot.”
Nadia also mentors for The Girls Network. Through this she helps girls from low income areas to be more successful in life through implementing goals and strategies to change their thinking to be more positive. Nadia helps to promote women in IT by being a woman in IT herself, showing girls that they too can be successful in this field.
When talking about women in IT, Nadia said: “I would say IT is one of the best things you could do because it’s ever-changing, you’re always learning and there is always something that is being developed.
“It is a good skillset to have in any industry, even if you worked somewhere like a hotel you need IT. IT pretty much is our world now. From my point of view, we need more women in IT to break that stereotype.”
Mike Gaston, Principal and CEO of HSDC, said: “I am delighted for Nadia and believe her success reflects the professionalism and enthusiasm she has for teaching and learning and of her desire to ensure the best for her students of all ages and backgrounds.”
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