Catherine Lian is an impressive personality in the tech sector. She is currently serving as the managing director of IBM Malaysia. She rose to this position in April 2019. After becoming the MD of IBM she joined the small minority of women in executive positions in Malaysia specially in the technology sector.
Catherine disclosed that for her equality is giving same level of knowlegde and position to both men and women in every sector. She claimed that the team consist of member of different class, qualification, and gender produce excellent result than the team consist of people of same background and gender.
Catherina Lian has backed many projects launched by IBM which includes Tech Re-Entry and STEM for Girls. IBM MD has revealed the difficulties a woman faces in the tech industry. She said that the biggest challenge for women in her family responsibilities. She has the duty to balance both he work life as well as her home life. Women have to act like mothers, sisters, and wives. Women assumed various roles during their whole life which men cannot experience in their life.
Lian disclosed that adjusting to the new environment is difficult but because of her strong support system she was able to adjust to the environment. Furthermore, she said that technology human progress is inevitably connected. She said that she chose this industry because of the new advancement it brings in our work life as well as our personal life.
Additionally, she disclosed that the thoughts about women in the technology sector were not encouraging in the 90s. But during her tenure in this industry, she came to know that now the world is accepting that women also have the ability to bring change in the tech sector and she has the capability to handle this sector.
Lian revealed that the reason women are less in executive positions or in the tech sector in Malaysia is that they make themselves less visible. She also overcame various barriers to reach the position she now holds. She uncovered that in IBM the study disclosed that those firms which have more women in their workforce perform better. She gave advice to women who want to pursue their career that always remains true to themselves and choose the opportunities that better suits them.
