Julie Sparlin

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Julie Sparlin loves logic, and her hunger to solve complex, analytical problems led her to a career in information technology, where she has found like-minded people – even in a field that remains disproportionately male.

“Despite progress, women are, unfortunately, still underrepresented in traditional STEM (science, engineering, technology, and mathematics) fields, but I’ve never experienced anyone questioning my abilities as a result of my gender."

If anything, Julie believes diversity confers an advantage in technology careers. Her first IT position involved implementing a significant financial system that required expertise from someone with a non-technical accounting background who could offer the knowledge the team lacked. Her coworkers appreciated her experience and her curiosity, and she found that by continuously learning, she was able to grow personally and professionally in the technical roles that followed.

“I.T. people tend to be highly analytical and open to new ideas, and RGA has a culture of teamwork. It’s not about who you are – it’s about whether you have that drive to dig into a project as part of a team, to experiment, and to work out solutions together. It doesn’t matter who comes up with a solution as long as the answer addresses the business need. That’s part of what I love about this job. If I had to sit around performing the same tasks over, and over, again for years and years and years, I’d move on. I need to be challenged.”

Still, it’s not easy to look around and find that you are the only woman in a business meeting. Part of what drew Julie to RGA was the number of women in leadership.

That’s part of what I love about this job. If I had to sit around performing the same tasks over, and over, again for years and years and years, I’d move on. I need to be challenged.”

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“It was very striking – and encouraging – to see so many high-ranking female leaders, and I do think that sets RGA apart. I wish I saw more of that when I was in college. I wanted to go into engineering but decided to pursue accounting because that’s where I saw people who looked like me.”

Julie believes these stereotypes begin as early as middle school and lead many girls to steer away from pursuing STEM studies.

“RGA goes out to schools to discuss STEM careers, and I think that’s smart,” she adds. “We must interest younger kids of all backgrounds in STEM before they pursue a career path. Only if we reach younger people can we start to capture the full potential of all the talented people out there.”

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