WOMEN IN DATA CENTRES
CAPITALISING ON OPPORTUNITIES AND EMPOWERING WOMEN IN DATA CENTRES
ABOUT
Celeste joined the Knight Frank Data Centre team in February 2022 after completing an undergraduate law degree at the University of Oxford .
Celeste is the primary lead for several Occupier Advisory projects . Starting as a graduate in this team , she is now advising on over 1MW of colocation projects for a global financial institution across multiple major trading hubs .
Celeste McGinley , Surveyor – Data Centres for Knight Frank
She is a founder of Young Data Centre Professionals : a networking event which brings together those in the data centre industry under Director level . Celeste was also a keynote speaker at Data Centre World 2023 , sharing insight on her investment trend forecasts .
Celeste McGinley , Surveyor – Data Centres for Knight Frank , shares insights on integrating women into the data centre sector , highlighting the importance of broadening awareness about career opportunities , fostering supportive work environments and advocating for flexible working arrangements to help bridge the gender gap in this fastgrowing industry .
h
How can women become more integrated in the data centre space and how should we work collaboratively to encourage and uplift ?
The first step , in my view , is to widen the understanding among the general public – not just women – in terms of the opportunities available within the data centre space . It ’ s not at the forefront of many young career entrants ’ minds .
The data centre sector is a really stimulating , interesting field to work in , with a lot of room for growth . Once there ' s more clarity on this as a super exciting career , then you can start to target women .
When I started at Knight Frank , I was on a rotational programme and the careers advisor got in touch to say they thought I should meet the data centre team . With no experience or awareness of the sector , I initially ( and naively ) thought it sounded really dry .
However , within a week or two of joining , I realised what a massive opportunity this was .
I think a lot of people enter the sector in the same way – by chance – so now is the time to capitalise on promoting the opportunities and targeting women with them .
As a young woman in a male dominated field , do you in any way feel at a disadvantage ?
No , I don ' t feel at a disadvantage , but I think there are often environments where I am the only woman in the room or on a call .
10 Women in data centres