International Women’s Day: Our Employees’ Messages
Today we celebrate women’s political, cultural, social, and economic achievements all over the world. We especially want to celebrate and thank all women at ALTEN for their fantastic work!
The engineering industry still struggles to attract women, and as an engineering consultancy, ALTEN has a role to play in communicating the importance of gender diversity.
As we want this day to be special and impactful, we asked some of our team members to share their thoughts on gender equality. Through their words, we want to send strong and positive messages on this occasion.
Carlota M., Experienced Recruitment Officer
If we look back in time, we can certainly confirm that the fight for equality and justice has achieved some of its goals. Today in western countries, middle-class women can easily access education, thrive in their careers, be independent, they have a voice, and this voice is finally heard. The goal of tomorrow will be to support the rest of the women in their fight. To ensure that every woman, regardless of class, race or cultural background, has access to the same opportunities that white middle-class women enjoy today in the west. Until this is achieved, International Women’s Day will be key to giving visibility to the injustice that thousands of women are still facing.
Eric G., Division Director
Gender, culture, age and racial diversity has been shown to reinforce creativity and innovation. Women and men approach business differently since their backgrounds and experiences are inevitably different. By challenging each other and confronting different ideas, mixed teams are more creative and collaborative. Collaboration is an important part of our business: it helps projects move forward and increases the quality of services provided to clients. I also noticed during my career that mixed gender teams inspire more confidence and trust from our customers.
Emily W., Quality Manager
2020 was an opportunity for self-development: we became childminders, we managed home-schooling and learnt to stay composed during video calls. On top of this, we also met our professional goals. This context has contributed to a greater sense of achievement, but it seems pale in comparison to the challenges keyworkers are facing. Today, our thoughts should go, undoubtedly, to all women on the frontline. Let’s all acknowledge the resilience women are showing in these unexpected times.
Ana M., Quality Engineer in the Nuclear Industry
As a Civil Engineer and working on-site for most of my career, I have learned that I face more challenges than my male colleagues as a woman. I had to work harder to get the respect and appreciation that everyone deserves, but that also gave me the opportunity to be the voice of powerful values such as tenacity, justice, hope. I believe it is important to celebrate International Women’s Day to honour and celebrate the remarkable work of all the amazing women who have fought and continue to fight so hard to get equality.
Matthieu G., Quality Engineer in the Aerospace Industry
“Why do we still speak about gender inequalities? Because in the UK: – Women are paid 15.5% less than men overall(1) – Only 26.7% of FTSE 350 company board members are women(2) – Women occupy 76% of all administrative and secretarial jobs(2) – In politics, only 32% of MPs are women(2) These statistics only relate to the workplace. Unfortunately, they are the tip of the iceberg. We can also talk about sexual harassment, housework, education, wellbeing, psychology, etc. As a man, I think I have a role to play against this “institutionalised sexism” by not remaining passive towards the situation. By getting involved and raising my voice alongside women, I know I can contribute to a better and more equal world.”
Sources: (1)HM Government – Gender Equality Monitor; (2)Office for National Statistics – 2020
