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Each for Equal is the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day. Here at Sciwheel, we believe that gender equality is more than just a women’s issue, it’s our issue as a business too. At Sciwheel we work to ensure our working environment reflects the reality and benefit of equality in the workplace. Currently, at both Sciwheel and Faculty Opinions, there is a ratio of 54:53 women to men working in our London and Cambridge offices and this includes our members of staff who work remotely. We have found that this balanced workforce yields the best results in productivity and supports a dynamic company culture. 

In recognition of this year’s International Women’s Day we are sharing the story of one of our extremely valued members of staff; Olga Grytsevych, QA Manager and Product Manager at Sciwheel.

Just the thought of math can make some people shrivel up and want to hide (myself included) but not to Olga. Olga had an innate passion for math which she pursued all the way to university. “I chose to study math because I like to learn and I also like to find logical solutions, and math seem to combine both of these passions pretty nicely” Following the completion of her studies, you might think that would be enough punishment for one person, but you’d be wrong, Olga then went on to join an IT academy “I really loved my time at the academy – it was a great opportunity to use analytical thinking and IT skills”. 

Finally, in 2017, with two master’s degrees under her belt, Olga spotted a QA engineer role at F1000 and subsequently joined us on our mission. She hit the ground running and since joining the company, she continued to exceed in her role and quickly rose to her current position as QA Manager. When asked what she liked most about her job Olga said, “When problems come up, I don’t see it as an inconvenience, rather a brand-new opportunity to find a novel solution to a difficult issue. I have always enjoyed when scenarios call for some outside the box thinking, and luckily in my position, there is no shortage of ample opportunities to flex my problem-solving muscles. It can be difficult, but when you finally crack the issue the sense of satisfaction is like nothing else.”

With that can-do attitude, Olga manages to juggle not one but two different sets of responsibilities that fall under her remit, firstly as QA Manager and secondly as Product Manager for Sciwheel. As part of her role as QA Manager, she plans tasks with the developer and QA teams to ensure they are matching stakeholders’ expectations. Then as Product Manager, she works with the marketing, sales and UX team on various projects and campaigns, with the end goal to communicate updates and features effectively with our users. “What I like most about the product management aspect of my role is that I am tasked with thinking of new and useful features that will improve our users’ experience of our products. Working with other departments is a great way to get an insight into their perspective and to give my logical brain a rest for the day and think a bit more creatively!” 

According to a study by the Wise campaign, in the UK we are on target to reach 1 million women in STEM by 2020. We’ve very proud to contribute to this statistic and to provide a diverse environment that benefits our staff. “I like working at Sciwheel because the people are friendly, and the overall atmosphere is very welcoming and supportive.  Everyone is always happy to lend a hand when people need help!” 

Outside of her day to day work, Olga has a serious case of wanderlust and is always making everyone back at the office jealous of her national-geographic-worthy holiday snaps. “I love to take any chance to see more of the world, and the more remote or off the beaten track the place is – the better!”. Olga also employs a work hard, play hard ethos to both her life and career. “My advice to any woman wanting to start a career in tech, is to buckle down and work hard to get the results you are after – but equally know your worth, and if you feel like it’s time to switch off and take a break, then you’re probably right”