Meet Susanne – the iOS developer who wonders where all the women are

Susanne Sousa Moseby is an iOS developer at Teleplan Globe – and one of very few women in the field. She can't quite work out why.

“I think it's really strange that more women don't code. It's such a chill job!”

Susanne is an iOS developer on NORA, Teleplan Globe's app for the police and emergency services. As a software developer, she is often the only woman in the room – but she reckons women should be in the majority.

“If I were to list the qualities that make a good programmer, I'd say many of them are often found in women – being tidy and precise, for example. So I think it's really odd that more women don't want to be programmers.”

All or nothing

Susanne has no definitive answer to why so few women code, but she has noticed a pattern: it tends to be “all or nothing”.

“Either there are no women at all among the programmers, or there are loads of them.”

She thinks it comes down to two things: many women would rather work somewhere that already has other women, and workplaces that are all-male to begin with might find it easier to hire more men. Either way, she struggles to see the downsides of the job.

“It's a very comfortable profession. It's flexible, not exhausting or requiring any heavy lifting, and it pays well. And when you're at a conference, there's never a queue for the ladies' room. There are a hundred men and two women. Brilliant!”

Susanne on Teleplan

Three words to describe the culture: On my team: young, playful and skilled.

The best thing about working here: It's a really exciting product, and there are a lot of talented people on the team. It's also very flexible. And most importantly: there's a ski trip to the Alps every other year – so if you like skiing, that's a big plus.

Advice for job seekers: They should apply now so they can make the ski trip early next year. And then say they'll take the job if they get to come along. That's what I did when I started!

From SNES to software engineering

Her interest in technology started early. By lower secondary school, Susanne already knew which direction she wanted to go in.

“I wasn't all that keen on the non-technical subjects. I was pretty sure it wasn't going to be anything to do with language, literature or social studies. I much preferred maths – you just solve the problems, and then it's either right or wrong.”

She grew up with a Super Nintendo and computers, and found technology and gadgets fun. But the choice was also calculated: she had decided that her education had to lead to good job prospects.

She ended up taking a master's in engineering at NTNU, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. She started out in communications technology, but switched to computer science in her second year after discovering that signal processing was on the timetable – and thought programming sounded more fun.

She then spent eight years as a consultant and a few years as a developer, first at the insurance company Fremtind and then at the media group Amedia, before joining Teleplan.

Building something that actually gets used

The route into defence technology wasn't planned. Susanne had no connection to the industry at all when she got a message from someone at Teleplan asking whether she'd like to have a chat.

“I was working at Amedia and really enjoyed it, but they had very little going on in mobile, so there wasn't much for me to do. It was a very comfortable job, but also a bit boring.”

The conversation with Teleplan made her curious.

“I think it's cool that we build things ourselves rather than just buying them from the US or another country.”

One of the things that motivates her day-to-day at Teleplan is, quite simply, building things that work – and that people actually use.

“It's fun to build something and see it work. But if you do it for a long time and nobody else ever sees it, it gets a bit boring. It's motivating to work on something that's genuinely useful to someone.”

Fun facts about Susanne

Three words to describe myself, and three words I think my colleagues would use: I'd say sporty, and ambitious – at least when it comes to how much I think I'll get done. So I guess “time optimist” is the third one.

I think my colleagues would say a bit intimidating, honest or direct – and hopefully funny.

Favourite app: Being an iOS developer, it has to be Safari.

If I could go anywhere: Portugal.

On my nightstand: A lamp and my Kindle. I've also got a Donald Duck comic, but it isn't mine. And a graphic novel, Krüger & Krogh 3.

What I always bring to work: Laptop, phone and my lanyard. And a change of clothes on the days when I go for a run before work.

3 things I would bring to a deserted island: I'd want one of those gadgets that turns salt water into drinking water. And maybe a boat, so I could get away?

I think that might be cheating. Let's assume it has to be something you could fit in your hand luggage.

Right, OK. So a diesel generator with a load of diesel is out, too? In that case, I'll have a big knife and some fishing gear.

Guilty pleasure: TV series from Southeast Asia. There's a Korean series called “Boys Over Flowers”, originally based on a manga, and I've lost count of how many versions of the same story I've watched. It's deeply embarrassing because it's so silly and weird.

And fyrstekake, the Norwegian almond tart! But it can't be dry – it should have extra “fyrst” in it, as I like to call it. So yeah, having a few hobbies that are a bit “old lady 80+” is a guilty pleasure.

What kind of hobbies? Well, fyrstekake. And Swiss roll!

Oh, you're defining eating cake as a hobby? Haha, yes. And old, quirky TV series, I like those too. I'm very fond of ‘Allo ‘Allo, for example.