International Women's Day on March 8
Alewijnse engineer Gabriela Savin tells about er role as an engineer in a male-dominated world
I see continuous progress in gender equality in society
On March 8, it is International Women’s Day, a day on which we put all the women at Alewijnse in the spotlight. For this occasion, we interview Gabriela Savin, an engineer at Alewijnse. She holds her own in a team consisting almost entirely of men.
“At first, I was afraid they would make me feel like I didn’t belong, but the opposite turned out to be true. Women are given an equal place at Alewijnse. As a company and as a society, we are taking more and more steps in the right direction.”
Gabriela, what means International Women's Day to you?
“I honestly haven't asked myself this question before... but I think it's a day when we should all pay more attention to ourselves than usual, a day when we should remind ourselves that we are much more important than we were the day before. We should celebrate our achievements more often throughout the year!
“In a professional sense, I also see it as a reminder to acknowledge the unique expertise and perspective we bring to our engineering teams every day.”
Do you recognise progress being made in this year’s themes; rights, justice and action for ALL women and girls, in society as a whole as well as in your daily environment?
“In society I see increasing discussions about pay equality and also the introduction of public policies aimed at protecting women against harassment. We still have a long way to go, but I think we are taking important steps in this direction.
“I also see improvements in my daily work environment. One example is the introduction of flexible working hours. This innovation allows colleagues to balance their responsibilities without sacrificing their career development. This new opportunity is very much appreciated by me and my colleagues.”
In what ways do you feel supported as a female colleague, and how do you personally contribute to creating equal opportunities for other female colleagues?
“For me, support began with the onboarding process where for the first time I was introduced to my colleagues with an emphasis on my skills and strategic role. The team I was assigned to was exclusively male and I was a little afraid that they would make me feel that I didn’t belong. But everyone was very respectful and eager to share their knowledge. They taught me a lot, and I am grateful to them for that.
“I also consider myself lucky as I am surrounded by supportive people, true professionals from whom I can learn a lot.
Personally, I try to practice female solidarity. For example, if a younger colleague manages to successfully complete a difficult task, I congratulate her because I know this will increase her self-confidence and I make sure it is visible to the manager.”
Which initiatives in society or within organisations do you appreciate when it comes to equal opportunities for women, and where do you see opportunities for further improvement?
“Within our organization, I think these initiatives have been around for a long time, and we have been on the right track for some time. We have women in every department, and many of them are in leadership positions.
However, at least in the engineering department I think their next stage is to advance this progress. I think that together we should focus on technical mentoring to help women evolve, ensuring that career paths for specialized technical leadership are as clear and accessible as those in management. That way we can ensure that the expertise on our teams remains diverse and innovative for the long term.”
