Most people in our community know that women are still underrepresented in the technology sector. In New Zealand, women make up only around 29% of the digital IT workforce. And while we all know the statistic, the more interesting question is: what can we do to help change it?

In health tech, having different voices around the table matters. We’re building technology for people, patients and communities with vastly different experiences and needs. The people helping shape those solutions should bring different perspectives too.

For us at Orion Health, one way we can help make a difference is through exposure, particularly when young people are starting to think about what they want their future to look like.

Opening the door to health tech

This year, we had the opportunity to take part in ShadowTech, welcoming students from Papakura High School and Middleton Grange School to our Auckland and Christchurch offices. Our goal was simple – to open our doors, introduce them to the people behind the tech and broaden their understanding of what a career in our industry could look like. We wanted to challenge the perception that working in tech only means becoming a software engineer or spending your day writing code.

To bring the world of health tech to life, we introduced the students to Sophie – a fictional 13-year-old who breaks her arm playing netball. Her journey helped show just how many people, skills and technologies can sit behind a seemingly simple healthcare experience. From Product, Design and Engineering to Clinical, AI, Marketing and Implementation, the message was simple: one screen, many people, many skills. There’s no one type of person or pathway into tech.

The students then got to experience that for themselves, working alongside our Product Design team to solve real healthcare frustrations they had encountered – from predicted ED wait times to symptom checkers and personalised care guidance. They worked through the same human-centred process our product teams use, before meeting women from across Orion Health and hearing about their varied career journeys. It was a chance to see firsthand just how many different ways there are to find your place in tech.

Making tech feel possible

For those of us already working in health tech, that’s where we can play a part – opening our doors, sharing our own (often not-so-linear) career journeys and giving young women the chance to experience the work for themselves. The more they can see the different people, skills and pathways that exist in our industry, the easier it becomes to imagine a place for themselves in it too – and to think, I could actually do this.

And we know that happened. In the feedback following ShadowTech, a number of students told us they could now actively see themselves pursuing a career in technology. That was one of the best outcomes we could have asked for. We weren’t trying to convince every student that tech was the career for them; we simply wanted to make sure they understood that it could be.

A great place to start

A huge thank you to everyone across Orion Health who put their hands up to bring the days to life, to Papakura High School and Middleton Grange School for spending the day with us, and of course to TechWomen NZ for bringing ShadowTech together and giving organisations like ours the opportunity to be part of it.

If even a few more young women walked away seeing health tech as a future they could genuinely be part of, that’s a pretty great place to start.

Interested in a career in health tech? Explore career opportunities at Orion Health and discover where your skills could take you.

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