Kalen Delaney has been working with SQL Server since 1987 when she joined the Sybase Corporation in Berkeley, California. She worked for Sybase in the technical support department and then for five years with the training organization. Kalen was an independent trainer and consultant from 1992 until she helped create Solid Quality Learning, with whom she worked for 5 years. As a consultant, she has worked with both the Microsoft and Sybase Corporations to develop courses and provide internal training for their technical support staff. Kalen now teaches her own independently developed advanced SQL Server training courses to clients around the world as well as speaking at conferences such as Microsoft’s TechEd and PASS. In addition, she has been writing regularly about SQL Server since 1995. She is also a contributing editor and columnist for SQL Server Magazine and has been a SQL Server MVP since 1993.  Kalen is currently wrapping up work on the last volume of “Inside SQL Server 2005”.

Kalen took time out of her busy schedule recently to discuss, with SIG volunteer Tricia Lipin, her experiences balancing work and personal life, her views on mentorship and role models, and her wishes for the future.

What do you think needs to happen to increase the numbers of women in technology?

There needs to be more exposure to technology that is exciting to girls at a young age. I’m sure there’s not just one type of technology that will make a difference, as everyone has their own interests. But most of the technology that is exciting to teenage boys is not exciting to most teenage girls. Effort needs to be made to find out what would grab and keep their attention.

What do you think is holding young women back?

Lack of encouragement, lack of confidence, lack of role models. 

Did you have a female role model growing up? How did she influence your life?

I don’t think I had anyone who was specifically a role model, but I just had lots of encouragement. My mother and my teachers just led to me believe that I could be and do anything I wanted. I loved reading about women who had been successful, but I don’t think I considered anyone a role model. When I read about successful women, it was just further evidence to me that anything was possible.

Did you have a mentor when you started out? Are you currently a mentor to anyone?  

There have been many people who have taken extra steps to give me advice, guidance and opportunities, but there is no one person who stands out in the role of mentor. The closest probably is the late Professor Diane McIntyre, who was head of the Computer Science Department at Mills College while I was teaching there.

I try to support and encourage women who seek out advice from me, but again, being a dedicated mentor is a special responsibility and I haven’t found the right person or opportunity yet. I do like to think I am a mentor for my children, however, and if I did have any spare time, I would want to devote more time to them.  

What are some of the challenges you faced as you juggled family and work life?
What advice would you give to women who want to keep the momentum of their career going while starting a family?

The biggest challenge for me has always been finding enough hours in a day to take care of myself, the people I love, my career, my home and my community. I think these challenges still exist as people want to find the right balance in their lives.

I know that many women struggle with finding appropriate child care, but I have always been very lucky in that area. I was a single mother for 4 years, but I was teaching at Mills College in California, which had one of the best early childhood education programs in the country. The child care center on campus was world-class, filled with caregivers who were planning to devote their professional lives to working with small children. There were frequently more adults than kids in some of the classrooms. I could not have asked for a better environment for my daughter. After I re-married and had more children, my husband and I decided together that one of us should be available for the kids, and it made more sense for the partner with the greater income potential to earn the income, and for the other partner do all the really hard, but greatly underappreciated, work of taking care of the kids and the home.

My advice to anyone taking time out of the fast lane is to take advantage of all that technology has to offer. There is so much information available via webcasts, newsgroups, whitepapers, etc, and anyone who expects to be returning into a technical position can at least keep up on new products and new developments. 

Also, keep in touch with your colleagues so that they know that you’ll be back!

I’m really bad at predictions, which is why I haven’t gotten rich in the stock market. All I can do is talk about what I hope for. I hope that in 10 years that are many more people who can work at something they feel passionate about. If you have passion for what you do, you don’t need to do anything special to prepare for changes, because your passion will drive you forward and make it fun and exciting to learn something new.

Where specifically would you like to see more women in the field?

I’d like to see more women doing technical sales and technical evangelism, to show that they can be passionate about technology.

What is your next project?

You’ll have to ask me after I finish the current one, which is finally finishing the last volume of Inside SQL Server 2005. I have several ideas, some of which are really exciting to me, but nothing is definite yet. If you interview me again next year, I should be able to share some exciting details.

WIT SIG volunteer Tricia Lipin has been a DBA for both the Oracle and SQL Server RDBMS for the past 7 years, working in both the public and private sectors. Tricia received her BS in English at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and worked for several publications before being lured to the Technical field around the time of the dotcom years in Seattle.