Emilie is the only woman in her team

3. Mar 2025

3 min

“Generally, no one developer is the same. We all have our unique peculiarities.”

These are the words of Emilie Præst Nielsen, Software Developer in Trade Finance at Bankdata in Fredericia.

The financial sector previously employed more women than men, but now men make up the majority. This is partly due to the fact that tasks have changed. The number of employees in the IT and business development areas has grown, and these are areas dominated by men.

We have therefore reached out to some of the women across the sector who work in all-male departments. One of them is 26-year-old Emilie Præst Nielsen.

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Emilie Præst Nielsen has worked at Bankdata for just over a year. Photo: Claus Fisker

They are only three in her team at Bankdata, and her two colleagues are both men. Previously, she was in a team of nine, where everyone else was men.

But the 26-year-old software developer doesn’t give it much thought. In her opinion, the biggest difference has nothing to do with gender; rather, it lies in the way developers work in general.

“For example, there is a big difference in how organised we are. It is also different whether we just dive into tasks, start coding blindly and test things, or begin by drawing things out at the table and then make a plan.

She is very organised herself and prefers making a plan and sticking to it.

Join the brunch and debate

Finansforbundet and Finance Denmark are marking International Women's Day with a brunch and debate on March 7. Among other things, the debate will focus on how gendered educational choices affect diversity in the financial sector..

First wanted to be a nurse

Emilie Præst Nielsen’s interest in IT and coding started when she was little. She looked up to her older brother and watched him keenly when he was gaming. To begin with, it didn’t spring to mind that this was something she could do professionally. That wasn’t until she was presented with the opportunity by chance.

“I first thought I was going to be a nurse, but the IT programme at HTX (Higher Technical Examination Programme, upper secondary level) caught my attention at the open day event. It was all so exciting to me, and I just felt it was something I had to pursue,” she explains.

And she hasn't regretted her choice since.

“There are just so many options. You can code what the user sees on screen or what's behind it. You can be at the server level or somewhere completely different,” she explains.

“I generally find that when you're on top of things, no one raises their eyebrows.”

- Emilie Præst Nielsen, Software Developer, Bankdata

No raised eyebrows

During her studies, it would happen that someone threw in a comment suggesting she was at the wrong lecture. But it would always be followed by laughter.

At her previous workplace, she worked with software for the automotive industry and was even more outnumbered, being the only woman in a large IT department.

“I generally find that when you're on top of things, no one raises their eyebrows,” she says.

Emilie Præst Nielsen is very pleased with her colleagues at Bankdata where she has worked for just over a year. And if she gets fed up with all the ‘man’ talk across the height-adjustable desks, she just speaks up, and the subject quickly changes.

“And if you’re in need of a little female contact, you’ll quickly find it in the staff canteen or the hallway, so I really don’t think much about it,” emphasises Emilie Præst Nielsen.

Co-created possibilities

We celebrate 8 March by taking a look at the gender balance in the financial sector.