Three different female tech backgrounds joined together to discuss Automotive in Portugal during Women’s Day.
Joana Pastor – Electrical and Computer Engineer working for Instrument Clusters
Leonor Santos – Electrical and Computer Engineer working for Autonomous Driving
Marta Lobo – Applied Math’s working as Data Analyst for Industry 4.0
Filipa Amaral – HR Manager
The discussion started with mixed feelings about whether to celebrate Women’s Day. For all of us, it should be natural to treat everyone the same, but we also understand that it took a lot of work and time to get to where we are today in society. There are still so many things to accomplish as a woman but let’s celebrate Women’s Day together as one.
Education is the key. Teaching at an early age and making it more visible in a child’s life that the difference is in each person and not in gender, nationality, or religion. This allows us to show our children that there are no women and men specific jobs, there are jobs opportunities for everyone. Showing the possibilities in areas specifically in Engineering and IT can open the doors to many career paths. Being able to work in the “CAR TV” or to make a “CAR Drive Autonomous” we believe both boys and girls will see this as an opportunity to be a part of the future in automotive.
With each having a different background in terms of family and where they came from, all the three believed that the possibility to see different possibilities and their open environment had been important for the choices they have made. An average of 15% of women in our company, agreed that there is still a long way to go for women in automotive. We believe that besides schools, we should also showcase our area in the Universities, especially showing that automotive does not need to be a man´s word.
In the end, women in the automotive industry have already changed a lot, and stereotypes regarding women are less each day, but it is also our target to find ways to get this to an even higher level and make an impact for the future generation.
