In tech, confidence is often treated like a prerequisite.
You’re supposed to walk into rooms knowing the answers.
You’re expected to speak with certainty.
You’re encouraged to project mastery, even when you’re still learning.
Especially for women in STEM, the message is clear: be confident or be overlooked.
But what if confidence doesn’t actually work that way?
What if it isn’t something you “have” forever?
In her conversation on Women in Quantum, quantum security professional Devika Mehra offers a refreshingly honest perspective: confidence isn’t stable. It grows. It shrinks. It gets rebuilt. Over and over again.
And that’s not a weakness.
That’s the work.
The Myth of “Permanent Confidence”
Scroll through LinkedIn. Watch conference panels. Read tech profiles.
Most stories are polished.
They highlight promotions, awards, breakthroughs, and milestones. What’s missing are the moments in between: the doubt, the hesitation, and the internal recalibration.
We rarely hear:
“I wasn’t sure I belonged in that room.”
“I felt behind.”
“I had to relearn how to trust myself.”
So we internalize a myth: real leaders are always confident.
Devika challenges that directly.
She doesn’t pretend that confidence is a straight line. She describes it as something that fluctuates depending on environment, context, and stage of life.
New role? Confidence dips.
New country? Confidence shifts.
New field? Confidence wobbles.
New expectations? Confidence recalibrates.
And that’s normal.
When You Enter a New Room, Everything Changes
Devika’s career has taken her across continents, disciplines, and professional identities: student, engineer, industry professional, researcher, and back again.
Each transition required more than technical skill.
It required emotional adaptation.
When you move into a new environment, the rules change. The language changes. The expectations change. The benchmarks for success change.
Suddenly, what made you confident before may not apply.
You go from expert to learner.
From authority to observer.
From “I’ve got this” to “I’m figuring this out.”
For many women in tech, this moment is dangerous. It’s where imposter syndrome takes root. It’s where self-doubt starts whispering: Maybe you don’t belong here.
Devika doesn’t deny that feeling.
She works through it.
Rebuilding Instead of Pretending
One of the most powerful things Devika shares is that she doesn’t try to “fake” confidence.
She rebuilds it.
How?
By returning to fundamentals.
She asks herself:
Am I trying my best?
Am I learning?
Am I improving?
Am I open to feedback?
If the answer is yes, she keeps going.
If the answer is no, she adjusts.
This is quiet confidence. Not performative. Not loud. Not fragile.
It’s grounded in effort.
When she enters unfamiliar spaces, she doesn’t assume she should already know everything. She observes. She asks questions. She studies how others navigate challenges. She learns from people who have walked similar paths.
Instead of comparing herself, she collects insight.
That’s how confidence regenerates.
The Power of Learning from Others
Another theme that runs through Devika’s journey is her willingness to learn from people around her.
She doesn’t see asking for guidance as weakness.
She sees it as strategy.
When she feels uncertain, she talks to mentors. She listens to peers. She studies the paths of those ahead of her. She asks how they handled similar transitions.
This keeps her from internalizing struggle as personal failure.
She understands: everyone recalibrates.
Everyone has moments of doubt.
Everyone rebuilds.
Confidence isn’t created in isolation. It’s built in community.
Why Fluctuating Confidence Is Actually Healthy
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: people who never doubt themselves stop growing.
If you’re always comfortable, you’re probably not stretching.
If you’re never uncertain, you’re probably not learning.
If you never feel challenged, you’re likely repeating what you already know.
Devika’s “unstable” confidence is actually a sign of ambition.
It means she keeps entering new rooms.
It means she keeps choosing growth over comfort.
It means she keeps placing herself where learning is required.
That’s leadership.
That’s resilience.
That’s long-term success.
Redefining Strength in STEM
For too long, strength in tech has been associated with emotional flatness.
Don’t show doubt.
Don’t admit uncertainty.
Don’t reveal learning curves.
Devika represents a different model.
Strength is adaptability.
Strength is reflection.
Strength is humility.
Strength is persistence.
She proves that you don’t have to be fearless to succeed.
You have to be willing.
Willing to try.
Willing to learn.
Willing to fail.
Willing to rebuild.
Confidence as a Practice, Not a Trait
The most important takeaway from Devika’s story is this:
Confidence is not a personality trait.
It’s a practice.
It’s something you work on.
It’s something you lose and regain.
It’s something shaped by experience, feedback, and self-trust.
Some days it’s strong.
Some days it’s fragile.
Some days it needs repair.
And that’s okay.
A Message for Women in Tech
If you’ve ever looked around a room and felt behind…
If you’ve ever questioned whether you deserved your seat…
If you’ve ever worried that your confidence wasn’t “enough”…
Devika’s story is for you.
You are not broken.
You are evolving.
Your uncertainty doesn’t mean you’re failing.
It means you’re growing.
And in fast-moving fields like quantum, AI, and deep tech, growth is the only sustainable advantage.
Confidence that adapts survives.
Confidence that pretends collapses.
The Real Advantage
Devika Mehra’s success isn’t built on unshakable self-belief.
It’s built on flexible self-trust.
She trusts herself to learn.
She trusts herself to adapt.
She trusts herself to rebuild.
That’s why she keeps moving forward.
And that’s why unstable confidence might be the strongest kind of confidence there is.
