The tech world is many things. Complex, controversial, Californian. Male-dominated, certainly. But I doubt that many would describe the direction of the tech world as increasingly driven by women from Ireland.
When I began my MSc in Digital Policy at University College Dublin, I was struck by the number of women who taught my courses. With backgrounds in the social sciences, these women work both in academia and in industry, sharing their expertise with institutions directly involved in shaping digital policy throughout Europe.
During one of my first weeks in university, I met with two of these professors to learn about their work. But instead of spending most of that hour listening, I spent most of it talking. My professors were invested in learning about my interests and perspectives in a way that left me feeling empowered to share my beliefs with others.
I had a similar experience a few weeks later speaking with a woman whose work has been instrumental in shaping data protection policy throughout Europe. In the interest of maintaining the confidentiality of our conversation, I won’t share who, but suffice to say I was slightly awestruck that I was able to speak with someone so instrumental to digital policy in Europe.
When our conversation began, I expected to sit quietly to learn about her work. But instead of spending most of that conversation listening, I, again, spent most of it talking. This very accomplished woman was interested in hearing my perspective on all things American tech policy. She even asked for my takes on the Digital Services Act and its content moderation strategy. Afterward, she connected me to other people working in her field so I could continue my conversations. With each introduction, she told them, “I think you’d learn a lot from Chloe.”
I’m not sure why these women expressed such respect for me and my perspective despite my being woefully under-qualified to share it with them. But I do know that spending time with these women has drastically increased my confidence in myself and my perspective on digital policy.
In the US, I’ve found conversations with connected industry and government professionals to be formal and hierarchical: it was clear that I was the student and they were the teacher. There is nothing wrong with this method, and it is often an important part of learning. Yet, this structure did not leave me feeling empowered to act on future challenges.
In contrast, my interactions with professors and technology policy professionals from Dublin helped nurture this confidence. And, seeing women in positions of leadership, sharing their perspectives on a typically male dominated field while earning the respect of their peers, has been inspiring for me. These meetings with professionals technology policy have been an invaluable part of my education and work in Dublin: because of them, I felt confident enough to reach out to nonprofits working in technology and advocacy to ask if I could volunteer on their projects, for example.
Ultimately, these women are shaping technology policy because they work in Dublin, where many technology companies hold their EU headquarters and where much of EU technology law is principally enforced. They are tackling new problems innovatively and leading the EU’s efforts to develop an international regulatory strategy for emerging technologies. Yet I think they are also shaping technology by spending their time nurturing the next generation of technology policy professionals. I am deeply grateful to them for inspiring my work and helping me grow into a better advocate for policy that can improve the online world for others.