Why We Need Diversity in Testing
Rasa Bonyadlou & Matthias Rasking
Accenture
Not only since the massive discussions regarding “bro culture“ at Uber or “biological differences“ at Google has diversity in the Software Engineering community been a huge topic. It’s time to go beyond the hype and turn diversity into something real. Accenture have a goal of having divers teams of 50/50 by 2025 – this simple top-down goal helps drive all kinds of discussions in our communities, whether they are recruiting/hiring, staffing or performance management related. But what does this mean on the ground? Diversity can take many forms and we are looking at all aspects of diversity such as diverse in ethnicity, gender, age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, and religion.
Simply hiring more women does not change anything with regards to attitude, parameters of working in this industry or simply people’s perception. In this webinar Rasa (Testing capability lead for Denmark) and Matthias (EALA Testing capability lead) will share some of their own experiences why diversity matters, give insights into how Accenture as a global firm is promoting diversity and how we are in the process of changing our attitudes and processes to make all of this sustainable. Looking forward to many questions and challenges so that we can all learn from each other’s expectations and experiences.
Key takeaways:
- Diversity is not a hype, it drives innovation
- A simple target helps drive practical actions
- Role models are a must – female and male
About Me!
About Rasa Bonyadlou
Rasa Bonyadlou working as test engineering manager and test capability lead for DK within Accenture’s Advanced Technology & Architecture group. With more than 14 years professional experiences in industry (primarily telecommunication, shipping and banking) Rasa has a passion for software test and quality assurance. She has been working with diverse onshore/offshore teams across the globe.
Primary assignments have been within test management including building and leading test teams in large projects, test methodology (process optimization and implementation), coaching/mentoring test teams and program test manager.
Matthias Rasking is a Principal Director within Accenture’s Advanced Technology & Architecture practice, which focuses on Software Engineering methods and processes. He leads the Testing platform for Austria, Switzerland, Germany and Russia and looks after testing capability development across Europe, Latin America and Africa. He is also a Management Executive for the TMMi foundation, a not-for-profit organization aimed at promoting an open standard for Test Maturity assessments, and supports the ISO/IEC Working Group 26 on formulating and enhancing ISO 29119 and 21246 standards for software testing and work product reviews. He has been working in several large scale Information Technology and Process Improvement projects in Europe. He is a certified expert in the area of Software and Service Delivery processes and frameworks, holding ITIL, TMMi and CMMI certifications. He has spoken at several industry conferences on Testing and is an accredited TMMI Lead Assessor. He maintains a broad knowledge in Project and Program Management, Software Engineering, Web and Packaged Development technologies, as well as functional and technical expertise mostly in the Financial Services industries. He is highly skilled in Systems and Application Testing, Test Organization, Process Improvement and Measurement and Software Development procedures. Twitter: @MatRasking