Analyst opening doors and making strides for women in technology

March 26, 2018
Information Solutions’ Townsend Langley, right, reviews the new MUSC off-campus housing database with Office of Student Programs and Student Diversity’s Nadia Mariutto and Kevin Smuniewski. Langley helped finalize and launch the database last May.
Information Solutions’ Townsend Langley, right, reviews the new MUSC off-campus housing database with Office of Student Programs and Student Diversity’s Nadia Mariutto and Kevin Smuniewski. Langley helped finalize and launch the database last May.

When Google admitted that more than four-fifths of its U.S. tech workforce were men, it gave validity to the claim that the STEM world is still a man’s world. One MUSC systems analyst challenges the perception that science, technology, engineering and math belong to the guys.

Seasoned information analyst Townsend Langley has worked for the past 16 months at MUSC Information Solutions. And while slowly but surely progress is being made in closing the gender gap that exists in the tech sector, according to the World Economic Forum, the notion still persists that the IT person walking through the door will no doubt be a man. And a first name like Townsend makes it even more of a surprise when she meets clients for the first time.

In a 2017 report by the National Center for Women & Information Technology, only 26 percent of the computing workforce were women.

And even at MUSC, people are surprised because when it comes to working with computers, coding and software programs, a majority just naturally expect to be working with a man.

And while Langley may not be what people expect, in reality, she’s so much more.

In her 19 years working in or closely alongside IT, she’s honed a particular skillset and possesses the technical knowledge, creativity and interpersonal skills that yield effective results. Through her various positions, teaching experiences and guidance of mentors, Langley has become a strong analyst who understands the technical world around her and is comfortable interacting with people through work teams and projects.

James Goad, a senior information systems analyst in Information Solutions and Langley’s manager, is pleased with the experience, leadership capabilities and confidence she brings to her job.

“Townsend’s work and contributions have been invaluable. She’s hit the ground running since joining us more than a year ago and has done an extraordinary job leading projects and building customer relationships,” said Goad. “She’s adaptable, smart, possesses a great attention to detail and is not afraid to ask questions. She’s an extraordinary asset to our team.”

MUSC off–campus housing coordinator Nadia Mariutto’s experience reinforced Goad’s comments.

Mariutto, who works in in the Office of Student Programs and Student Diversity, collaborated with Langley on a project in 2017 to update and improve the off-campus housing database for students and others in the MUSC community. Mariutto’s team had already purchased the software and needed help with implementation and integration to meet their needs and launch it.

Mariutto and Langley worked together to finalize the system in time for a May go-live launch.

“Townsend was so pleasant to work with. She was great at taking the project from our concept to reality and customizing it to meet our needs, while keeping it to web standards and guidelines. She’s knowledgeable, responsive and experienced at anticipating our next steps,” said Mariutto.

Sharlene Wedin, PsyD, associate professor, is another happy customer working with Langley and the Behavioral Support and Intervention Team, a team composed of MUSC faculty that focuses on student concerns and distress, working under the Division of Education and Student Life. The team recently acquired Maxient software to serve as a reporting and case management tool to support students. Wedin worked with Langley and her research and academic information systems (AFIS/RAIS) team to complete implementation and integration and plan their March 1 go–live launch.

“Honestly, we couldn’t have launched this project without Townsend,” said Wedin, who described Langley as a conscientious and responsive problem solver and executor of tasks.

“IT is not my area of strength. Townsend was able to see our direction from a software perspective and guide us through the steps we needed to take. She understood our software’s limitations and guided us to find better methods and solutions.”

A native of Darlington, South Carolina, Langley grew up the only girl among three brothers. Her parents were professionals — her mother, a teacher, and her father, a lawyer.

“I guess I came out of the gate feeling less intimidated when you grow up with brothers,” said Langley. “I figured, if my brothers can do things, then so can I."

She recalls her first introduction to computers as a college student attending the University of North Carolina–Wilmington. Langley’s parents bought her a Gateway computer to help her at school.

“It was an amazing device and very capable of doing much more than how I initially used it — mostly as a word processor,” said Langley, who was taking business classes at the time.

One day, during a storm, her computer broke down, and she was forced to troubleshoot the problem. She ended up calling technical support where a technician talked Langley through the step–by–step repair. She recalled taking the computer apart only to reassemble it.

“I remember thinking it wasn’t so bad or terrifying as I had anticipated it to be. Honestly, I feel more terrified looking inside a car’s engine than the insides of a computer,” she said.

While at school, UNCW was among the first schools in North Carolina to offer a new information systems degree not sponsored through the math department. The program was created as a hybrid program — meshing true business and programming courses. The new program met her interests — computer programming, statistics and modeling. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in information systems from UNCW in 1999.

Later in her career, she received an MBA from The Citadel. The year was 2002.

Langley’s early jobs as an account coordinator, project analyst and programmer challenged her. Feelings of inadequacy, also known as the “impostor syndrome,” where women feel they must constantly prove their place and worth in the tech world, were present in her early career.

“At times I felt like a fish out of water or felt inexperienced or undervalued — feeling as though what I brought to the table wasn’t enough,” Langley said about her struggles.

Things changed when she started working in higher education. In 2003, Langley was hired as an applications analyst at Trident Technical College. Opportunities led her to teach the computers and programming class. For more than 11 years at TTC, she was the director of Instructional Services, before moving to her current job at MUSC in the fall of 2016.

“There’s an organizational difference working in higher education — a greater gender balance because, I believe, higher education values diversity and inclusion initiatives so much more than other industries I’ve been exposed to. Because of that, I feel my journey hasn’t been quite so difficult as a female professional working in a male-dominated field,” Langley said.

Working at MUSC has allowed Langley to see firsthand an institution making strides in closing the gender gap by supporting the growth of women and minorities in the workplace and a qualified women being placed in senior leadership roles.

When it comes to modeling success, Langley advocates for mentoring others. She feels fortunate to have been guided by great mentors, both male and female, throughout her career, and she recognizes that there’s “room for growth.” She mentors new IT team recruits through training and with a focus on best practices.

Beyond her work at MUSC, she’s committed to her role as a mom to her 15–year–old son Thomas and to being a female role model who reinforces the belief that women are capable of achieving extraordinary things in any field they choose.

“Thomas’ generation didn’t see the struggle women have had in these types of professions. Still, through our conversations and watching the things I’ve been able to accomplish, he has a better understanding of the incredible strides women have made in STEM fields and in the workplace. I hope these things make a lasting impression on him and contribute to women being accepted in these roles in an even more profound way,” Langley said.