Danielle Ibohn, digital manager: I chose digital
Femmes du Numérique:To begin with, what is your definition of “digital”?
Danielle Ibohn:Digital is the set of tools and data that allows us to be present both here and elsewhere. Digital technology is sometimes (for me) related to having the gift of ubiquity, but above all to being able to travel through space-time, taming time zones. Which is revolutionary.
FDN:Women, an opportunity for digital. Digital, an opportunity for women. What do you think about it? Why did you choose this sector?
DI :Why did I choose digital? I’d say it was the digital sector that chose me. Initially, I thought I’d manage a journalistic project at university (managing a news website for students). In the end, I’m still doing it, and I’m very passionate about it. In this particular case, I don’t think it’s a question of personality, but of passion. So many revolutions began with passion. For me, digital is an opportunity for all women who want to launch themselves into a career with a future. So I believe in women in digital!
FDN:Did you encounter any difficulties in choosing your career path, or on the contrary, did you receive support? How did your teachers, guidance counselors, family, friends and parents view your choice?
DI: I come from Africa, from Cameroon. It’s a country where the dictate was to enter the civil service. I had to study law, even though I wanted to study journalism. Then I wanted to become a digitalmanager, which everyone thought was worse! Above all, I was misunderstood. So I stuck it out in spite of everything! Today, the people around me are beginning to understand, even if it’s not all over yet!
FDN:During your studies and internships, how did you feel about working in a predominantly male environment? Did you feel you were treated differently from male students and trainees?
DI:No matter what you say, you’re treated differently, seen differently. I noticed this when I started training. I’m self-taught, and the comments made about me, especially by men, were unkind… But I didn’t stop there.
When I didn’t know, I asked. People laughed at me because I didn’t master the concepts, even though I worked hard to understand them better. I’d say to myself, “In time, you’ll get the hang of it. No! I’m currently managing a subsidiary of a digital agencywww.peopleinput.cometthe same thing happens to my male colleagues. I have to re-explain my decisions several times, because apparently I work with my emotions. I’m an “introvert-hysteric”. In other words, I manifest my intrinsic hysteria (intrinsic, because I don’t raise my voice) by asking to repeat a report several times. But that’s just what rigor is all about.
FDN:Tell us about your career plans. How do you see your career?
DI:I don’t want to stay in the agency too long. My main aim is to give training to rural communities on how to manage their projects using digital technology. I’m currently giving this training at seminars and conferences. I see the rest of my career mainly in business engineering for complex technological solutions… The aim will be to push appropriation further and further. We’ll be able to develop solutions for major accounts. In short, living in your own village and doing business with the whole world.
FDN:You’re part of generation Y. How do you view gender equality issues?
DI: It’s evolving around issues of equality. Programs are being set up in my country to do just that, especially in education. Yet the enrolment rate for girls in Cameroon’s state universities has dropped from 72% in 2009 to less than 42% in 2012. Even less so in the sciences. Women don’t like science courses. Today, we’re the ones who are solving the equality issue. Not the programs! We do!
FDN:What advice would you give to a high school student hesitating to enroll in a digital curriculum?
DI: I’d like to tell her that she has value. She doesn’t have to be predisposed to what society, and especially her family, wants of her. What mark would she like to leave on humanity? We are all passing through this world.Mother Teresa, Aung San Suu Kyi, Michelle Obama, Angeline Kidjoand Anne-Marie Nziésare women who will leave their mark. They’ll be in the history books. But what about you? Where do you fit in?